The Hero Club
by Mind Jack
Summary: After being charged with assault, young Gusty Breeze is released into the care of an estranged aunt. The last thing she wants is to get in trouble again. Unfortunately for her, circumstances have other plans, and she's forced into a partnership with two other young ne'er-do-wells in order to stop all three of them from getting in serious trouble.
1. Chapter 1: Nothing Like a Fresh Breeze

_**Chapter 1: Nothing Like a Fresh Breeze**_

The taxi carriage skidded to a halt. Gusty Breeze hesitated to climb out, but the yellow-uniformed pegasus stallion pulling it shot her a dirty look. With a wince, she complied and hopped out. She barely got to pull out her dark-green saddlebags before the stallion took off, pulling into the air and left Gusty in the dust.

As she looked up at the looming, intimidating manor, Gusty felt very much like a prisoner condemned to the depths of Tartarus.

Gusty was a pegasus filly. Her mint-green coat and feathers were a little too thin for the cold of this part of Equestria, but luckily her seaweed-colored mane and tail were both longer and thicker, helping her keep a bit of warmth. A bright, yellow stripe twisted around the braids in both, each ending with a gold ribbon tied around the end.

She looked with helplessness on the old-fashioned, demonic-looking door knocker, as she struggled to build up the courage to move her body far enough to knock.

She shook her head to clear it. _C'mon Gusty! You're braver than this! She's just your aunt! _Squeezing her eyes shut tight, she rapped on the door three times.

There was a brief silence before the door cracked open, a single gray eye peering out at her. "No solicitors," said a raspy male voice not unlike the sound of a boulder hitting the ground at full speed.

Gusty reached into her saddlebag, producing a crumpled piece of paper that looked as if somepony had spit on it at some point. "I have a court order to be here? I'm Gusty Breeze." She thanked her lucky stars that she was somehow able to get through that line without stammering. Hours of practicing in the mirror had payed off.

The eye looked at her suspiciously. "I will confirm this with the Mistress." A large, gray hoof reached out and took the document from her, before slamming the door in her face.

Gusty rubbed her sore nose. _Well, not as bad as I thought it would be so far._

After a few minutes, the door opened fully, revealing an old, slate-gray Earth pony with a close cropped mane the color of unprocessed concrete. He wore a black suit and tie that looked so tight that it was a wonder he could actually move. The fact that the rest of him looked like a statue didn't help. His cutie mark was a silver teapot, with some kind of blue mark she couldn't see clearly. "Mistress Daffodil will see you in the study," he informed her. "Follow me closely, and don't try going anywhere else."

The gray pony led her through the foyer. In contrast to the outside of the house, it was well-lit by a giant chandelier and actually kind of inviting, with a red carpet stretching all the way up the stairs over the shiny marble floor. What _wasn't_ inviting were the two other stallions in the room. Both had the exact same colors and cutie mark as the pony leading her. One was tall and unusually skinny, and the other was oddly proportioned, and had a face that looked like a half-deflated balloon with deep-set, beady eyes. Both of them stared at her with unreadable expressions as she walked.

He stopped before a door at the far end of the hall, on the second floor. "Mistress Daffodil, your guest is here!" he called through the door.

A bespectacled, pale-yellow head with a frizzy, dark-orange mane poked out of the door, bumping muzzles with Gusty. "Ah! You must be Gusty! Come in! Come in!"

Gusty found herself scooped up and plopped on the carrot-maned mare's back, between her wings. A toss of Daffodil's hindquarters launched Gusty into the air, sending her flying perfectly into the center of a red, velvet chair next to a lit fireplace. Daffodil seated herself in a similar one on the other side of a granite coffee table. "Stiff has told me a lot about you! Assault with a deadly weapon is a serious charge. But worry not! Daffodil Scented Breeze has never failed to reform a pony! Your honor, and our family's, shall be restored by the end of your probation!"

Gusty thought that the sheer amount of enthusiasm Daffodil showed was pretty unnerving, but did her best to not show it. "So, uh… no one told me exactly what I'm supposed to do here. I-I don't even know how long I'm supposed to be staying." _Nice job, Gusty! You almost don't sound completely terrified!  
_  
Daffodil pulled some papers out of a manilla folder on the table. "Well, according to these papers, your probation lasts two years. So long as you keep your nose clean while you're here, that will be the end of that. But Stiff told me to, quote, 'Keep her until she learns her lesson,' so I guess that part is up to you and him."

Gusty sighed, her gaze falling. "Yeah. That sounds like Dad, alright."

"Hey, keep your chin up!" Daffodil scolded, wrapping a comforting wing around her niece. "I've never failed to reform a pony before. I even got my cutie mark in it!" She stepped away to point at the golden puzzle piece on her flank.

"Yeah, sure." Gusty was rather leery at the constant use of the word "reformed." It sounded like she was going to be tortured until she was reeducated.

Luckily, Daffodil seemed to misinterpret her apprehension as more uncertainty. "How about I show you around the house, then we can go see your room? At dinner, we can go over the rules you'll have to follow while you're here. Your father pulled a lot of strings to let you spend your probation with a family member. I'd hate to see you get in trouble on your first day with us."

Gusty took a deep breath. "Alright. That sounds good." _May as well get used to the place. Celestia knows how long I'll be here._

* * *

Gusty was thankful that Daffodil decided to give the tour of the house herself, rather than let one of her butlers do it. The stone-faced stallions' eyes seemed to follow the pair everywhere they went.

"Don't let Tall, Dark, and Gruesome bother you." Daffodil assured her. "They're just protective of me."

Gusty might have laughed at those unfortunate names, had she not still felt their gazes on the back of her neck even when she couldn't see them.

Daffodil continued leading Gusty through the house. "You'll love this one," Daffodil promised as she pushed open the door. "Welcome to the trophy room!"

Gusty's eyes went as wide as saucers.

All four walls were almost completely covered; there were weapons, shields, suits of armor, and banners bearing the Breeze family crest: three wavy, blue lines on a yellow background, bordered in more blue.

But most impressive were the actual trophies. Three hydra heads dominated the far wall, their snapping jaws frozen in what looked almost like surprise. A manticore-skin rug covered the center of the room, surrounded by four rocking chairs that Gusty knew were made of timberwolf wood, mostly from the fact that the backs were still bordered with teeth. The rest of the walls were filled with mounted heads, teeth, hides, and claws of unimaginable beasts and monsters.

Daffodil politely closed Gusty's open mouth with one hoof, a small smirk on her face. "Impressive, is it not?"

"I… I don't… Are they…? Did you…?"

"If my understanding of floundering gibberish isn't failing me, I assume you're asking if all of these belong to me, and if I hunted all of these monsters?"

Gusty nodded mutely.

Daffodil giggled. "Oh heavens, no! I'm a paper pusher, dear. My days of adventure are long behind me. These are mostly family heirlooms. I'm a collector. Maybe, if you behave, I'll share some of the stories behind all of this. But only if you're good. Maybe it'll get rid of some of the eggshells you've been walking on since you got here."

Gusty couldn't help but think any other good little Breeze filly would be impressed, and begging to hear those stories, but Gusty wasn't. In fact, the idea filled her heart with dread, and no small amount of guilt. But she pushed those down, giving Daffodil the smile and nod she probably expected.

They finished touring the first floor, including the kitchen, bathroom, and dining room. After that, Daffodil brought Gusty upstairs. "This is your room. Well… the guest room, technically, but I expect you to care for it as if it were your own! My room is right next door, and my daughter's is straight across. Tall, Dark, and Gruesome sleep in the rooms at the other end of the hall."

Gusty opted for the safest conversation topic. "You have a daughter?"

"Ah, yes! Boomer's at school right now, sadly. She'll be home soon." She paused for a moment, seeming to be lost in thought. "I think that's everything you need to know for now. I'll leave you to get unpacked and settled in. Lunch should be ready in two hours. If you need me, I'll be in the study." Daffodil hesitated for a moment, before giving Gusty an awkward hug. "I know this is going to be hard, but I want nothing but the best for you. You're in safe hooves, and you have nothing to worry about."

That reminder of her circumstances made Gusty drop her gaze to the floor, her ears pinning against her head. "Yeah… thanks…"

Once Daffodil trotted away, Gusty pushed open the bedroom door. It was a nice enough place, with floral print blankets on a bed that was big enough for her to not fall out of, flanked by a couple of nightstands. There was even an old, wooden desk next to the window, where the light would be good.

She unpacked her bags, setting an old photo of her and her father on one of the nightstands, and a few books on the other. Her empty bit bag went in a drawer on the desk.

Then, out came her prized possession.

Gusty held the old book in her wings for a moment, flipping through it with a hoof. It was old, with a simple, unadorned, brown cover that seemed to be leather of some sort. While that may have brought a churn to the gut of other ponies, Gusty cared more about the contents of its pages than the contents of the cover.

A tear formed in the corner of her eye as she remembered that this book was the reason she was here in the first place. She shook her head violently, wiping the tear away and stowing the book between the mattress and the boxspring of her bed. Getting caught with stolen property, much less stolen property that she'd assaulted somepony for, was probably not a good idea on her first official day of probation. _Keep it together, Gusty. Now is not the time for an emotional breakdown._

...

Feather it. She had a couple of hours to kill. Now was the perfect time for an emotional breakdown.

She flopped onto the bed, burying her face in one of the pillows in a vain attempt to stifle her open sobs.

* * *

Gusty wasn't sure how long she'd been crying for, but her pity party was interrupted by the sound of a door opening downstairs. "Mom! I'm home!" a raspy voice called from downstairs.

She snapped to attention immediately, fixing her mane and wiping the tears matting the fur under her eyes away. She blew her nose on one of the emergency towels in her bag. There wasn't much she could do about the redness in her eyes, so hopefully they wouldn't notice that.

"Gusty! Come on downstairs! Lunch is ready!"

Gusty trotted downstairs, not stopping to question that she'd been sobbing into her sheets for two hours straight.

She was met at the front door by a short, chunky, and bespectacled filly who was dynamite red, with a bright yellow mane that stuck up like a cockatoo's head plumage. Her cutie mark appeared to be some kind of explosion, or perhaps raw cauliflower.

Boomer seemed just as surprised to see Gusty. "Uh, mom, there's another weird filly upstairs who looks like she's been crying her eyes out!"

_Well that's not the best first impression. _

Daffodil poked her head out of the kitchen, a surprised frown on her face. "Oh dear! I'm so sorry! In my excitement I must have forgotten to tell you we had a guest coming. Boomer, meet your cousin, Gusty. Gusty, this is my daughter, Boomer."

Gusty did her best to force a smile, holding out a hoof. Her mind let out a silent sigh of relief when Boomer grinned back and bumped it in greeting. "Hey! Nice to meet you! Sorry. I thought you were one of mom's projects for a second."

"She is!" Daffodil replied from the kitchen before Gusty could say a word. "Both of you get in here! Lunch is getting cold!"

Though she doubted that Daffodil had any ill intent in that remark, Gusty saw the very slight shift in Boomer's expression. Her eyes became a little narrower, her smile falling just a bit. "Coming, Mom!" she called as she galloped into the dining room.

Gusty sighed. This was going to be a long two years. 

* * *

The three of them sat at the dining room table. Gusty shuffled her wings nervously, feeling the weight of the awkward silence between her and Boomer.

Thankfully, the silence was broken by the balloon-faced butler walking in with a metal pot balanced on his head, along with three white bowls on top of that. "Lunch is served, miladies!" he announced in a smooth and cheery Canterlot accent, expertly passing the pot from his head to the table. The bowls slid into position in front of each of them like they were on tracks. Producing a ladle hung on one of the pot's handles, he filled all three bowls with steaming tomato soup.

"Thanks, Mr. Gruesome," said Gusty with a smile, which vanished when she noticed Daffodil trying very hard not to smile, and Boomer not even trying to hide outright laughter. "What? What'd I say?"

"My name is Tall Order, Miss Breeze," the butler answered with a smirk of his own.

Gusty's head thudded to the table with an embarrassed groan. "I am _so_ sorry!"

"Think nothing of it, my dear. It's a common mistake of anypony who sees my ghastly visage, and not all of us have Gruesome Gaze's temper."

With that he departed, leaving the three of them alone again.

"So what are you in for, Gusty?" Boomer blurted out.

"Boomer!" Daffodil scolded.

"It's alright," Gusty assured with a sigh. "I'm here for assault with a deadly weapon."

Boomer's eyes widened. "Ouch! Quite a bit different from the stuff you usually have here, Mom."

"That may be," Daffodil replied. "But it's nothing I haven't seen before. Now, Gusty, as I told you earlier, I have several rules I like ponies under my roof to follow."

Gusty's brow furrowed when Boomer rolled her eyes to Celestia's sun. "Mom! C'mon! Let the filly eat before you get into all that junk."

Daffodil shook her head stubbornly. "No. This is important, and it won't take long."

Gusty leaned forward, listening intently.

"First rule: You will go to school every day. Boomer can show you the way to school after lunch. I'll be keeping a close eye on your attendance. If I see an absence I don't know about, and you don't have a very good explanation, there will be trouble. Same thing if your grades fall too low."

That was fair. Gusty nodded in acknowledgment.

"Second rule: This should be rather obvious, but no criminal activity. I'll be giving you an allowance every week, so you'll have no need for theft. If you have problems with anypony, you come to me and I'll deal with it. Do _not_ try to take matters into your own hooves. Do I make myself clear?"

Gusty nodded vigorously. Boomer looked quite amused at that.

"Good," Daffodil continued. "Third: Everypony in this house is to be treated with the utmost respect. If I, Tall, Dark, or Gruesome tell you to do something, you do it. No questions asked. You'll be expected to help out with chores and keep your room clean, but like I said before, you'll receive an allowance for it. Lastly: you're free to wander around Coltsburg, so long as you have supervision and are back by sunset. If you need to go out, ask anypony in the house, including Boomer, to go with you."

Gusty hesitated. "Those rules… don't sound that bad. What's the catch?"

Daffodil's grin was so innocent, Gusty could practically see the halo above her head. "That will be clear in time," said Daffodil with an ominous smile. "I won't lie to you and tell you there isn't one. It's best you wonder for now, and see what happens when you break the rules."

That smile made Gusty gulp. She discreetly looked over at Boomer, but didn't see any bruises, and she hadn't seen her limp at all walking into the kitchen.

Daffodil clapped her hooves together. "Well, I suppose we had all best dig in, before the soup gets cold!"

* * *

After a surprisingly satisfying lunch, Gusty found herself following Boomer down Coltsburg's main road. The town had a dreary, lifeless feel to it, being mostly made up of tall, brownstone buildings and gray stone roads. A bearded Earth pony spat in Gusty's direction as she passed.

Boomer was quite an enthusiastic tour guide as they trotted down the crowded street. "That's the farmer's market! They have great tomatoes there, and the peaches are to die for. Over there's the post office, where everypony goes to have their mail get lost."

_I better remember that. Dad'll be mad if I don't write home._

"And here's the school!" Boomer announced with a flourishing wave of her hoof.

Steelgate Middle School was about as welcoming as the rest of Coltsburg. It had a high brick wall that completely surrounded it, except for a single gap that was filled by a wrought-iron gate topped with sharp spikes. What Gusty could see of the building looked like a tall, off-white tombstone with black windows. The school's name was written in indigo letters above the main doors, just high enough to be seen above the wall.

"If you think this place looks like a prison, you should see the high school," Boomer quipped.

Gusty shut her eyes with a soft, sad sigh. _Fitting, I guess_.

She felt a gentle hoof on her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay? I didn't mean to depress you."

Gusty trembled slightly. "Can… can I have a hug? Please?"

Her eyes stayed closed, but she felt Boomer's short legs wrap around her shoulders. She wrapped her wings around the smaller filly, letting out a shaky breath into her shoulder.

"Um… now might not be the best time to tell you, but you just got pickpocketed."

Gusty broke the hug and whirled around to come nose-to-nose with the thief.

A pair of startled charcoal eyes met hers for a split second, Gusty's bitpurse floating in her navy-blue magical grasp, before the unicorn filly turned and galloped off in a black and white blur, Gusty hot on her hooves. She heard Boomer yelling something after her, but her vision was tunneled at that point.

The thief cut through the farmer's market, dumping a barrel of peaches in Gusty's path. Fortunately, Gusty had the advantage of flight. When the thief tried to flee into an alley on the other side of the market, Gusty dove down and roughly tackled her to the ground.

Now that she had the thief pinned, Gusty finally had the chance to get a good look at her. She was a unicorn filly with a strangely pristine white coat and a messy, curly, dark-brown mane. Three brown freckles dotted her cheeks on either side. The color of her eyes was such a dark shade of gray that it was near impossible to tell from her pupils. Luckily, her horn was blunt; otherwise it may have jabbed Gusty in the eye when their foreheads knocked together. "Try to steal from me? I bet I don't look like such an easy mark now, huh?"

The thief struggled beneath Gusty's weight. "Hey! Chill! Calm down! Here, take your stupid bitpurse!" The sack of coins once again levitated into Gusty's view, taking her eyes off the thief for just long enough that the other filly managed to forcefully roll over on top of her.

Gusty felt a sharp pain in her right wing as she landed on it, and knew she was in trouble. She raised her front hooves to protect her face, but no punches came. To her surprise, the weight on top of her vanished.

Taking her hooves off her face, Gusty saw the other filly calmly dusting herself off. "Sweet Celestia, that's one hay of a tackle you've got. You play hoofball?"

She slowly picked herself up, wincing as more pain stabbed into her limp wing when she tried to move it. "Yeah… I do," she replied with a glare.

Gusty was even more taken aback when the thief levitated her bitpurse back into her saddlebag. "There. Message received. No stealing from you. We cool?"

She scowled. "No, we're not cool, you dirty crook!"

"Ouch! I'm wounded! You wound me, Minty."

"Minty?"

"Hey, cut me some slack. Cuddles is on her way, so I had to think of a nickname on the fly."

Before Gusty could ask who 'Cuddles' was, Boomer came chugging into the alley like a tiny steam train, desperately trying to force words out between heavy breaths. "Finally... caught up... with you two..."Her eyes widened when she saw Gusty nursing her limp wing. "What the hay? What happened!? Oh Celestia, Snake Eyes! Mom is gonna kill me!"

"Here, lemme get that for ya." Without asking permission, the thief grabbed Gusty's wing in her teeth and gave it a violent tug. Gusty yelped as it popped back into place. "It was just dislocated," she said as she spat out a couple of Gusty's mint green feathers.

"Thanks..." Gusty muttered, glowering at her.

The thief stuck her hoof out. "Well, like Cuddles just said, my name's Snake Eyes. Call me Snake. What's yours?"

Gusty was going to snap something unkind at her, but Boomer put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't take Snake seriously. She means well. She's just… really, really stupid."

"Me in a nutshell!" Snake readily agreed.

Gusty closed her eyes, taking a few deep, calming breaths. "I'm Gusty Breeze," she finally replied, pointedly not bumping Snake's hoof.

Snake didn't seem bothered. "Anyway, judging by the fact that Cuddles was giving you the grand tour, I'm guessing you're new in town?"

"Yeah. Here for assault with a deadly weapon." Gusty was half-hoping that would shake Snake's unflappable attitude.

Sadly, she was disappointed. "Neat! So you're one of Daffodil's shrunken heads?"

"Mom is _not_ a shrink!" Boomer protested, a pouty frown on her face.

Snake rolled her eyes, smiling. "Listen, Gloomy, I don't mean any harm. I didn't even really expect to get away. It was just a little joke on the new kid in town. I'm sorry I freaked you out, and I'm sorry I hurt your wing. So, friends?" She held out a hoof.

Gusty grumbled, but, after seeing Boomer frantically nodding behind Snake, shook the proffered hoof. A pang of guilt shot through her as Snake winced at the slight shake of her leg. "I guess. I'm really sorry about tackling you. No more funny business, alright?"

"Filly Guide's Honor!" Snake proclaimed, one hoof over her heart. "Anyway, I got a few errands to run. See you two at school tomorrow!" With that, she scampered off and disappeared into the crowd in the market.

Though the confrontation had ended well, Gusty couldn't shake a sinking feeling in her gut. "She's lying about not messing with me anymore, isn't she?"

"Through her teeth," Boomer confirmed with a wry grin. "She's not even a Filly Guide. Not about being friends, though, and in your situation, she's a good friend to have."

"What do you mean?"

"Word tends to spread fast in school when Mom has a new case," Boomer replied. "I'll wager you'll be the talk of the school tomorrow, and not in a good way. Snake has a… unique way of taking care of that kind of thing. You'll see tomorrow."

After that, they wandered aimlessly around town for a while. Boomer would occasionally point out something interesting; a mini golf course, an old abandoned house that everypony apparently said was haunted, and other typical town fixtures.

It was early evening when they returned home. Daffodil met them in the foyer, flanked by the scary butler who'd answered the door earlier. Gusty quickly found herself scooped up and placed on Daffodil's back. "Ah, perfect timing, Gusty! I just finished setting up my study for your first interview. I apologize, Boomer. I need to speak to Gusty in private for a little while."

Boomer rolled her eyes and sighed. "No worries, Mom. Still wanna go to the range, Gruesome?"

"I'm afraid not, Mistress Boomer," the stony pony replied with his usual lack of emotion. "Mistress Daffodil has requested that I be present to prevent any escape attempts on the part of Miss Breeze. I'll be on watch for the rest of the evening."

Gusty was insulted, but bit back her reply when she saw Boomer's ears flop down in disappointment with a simple "Oh."

"I believe Tall should be finished with the dishes soon," Daffodil offered as she whisked Gusty upstairs. "I'm sure he'd take you if asked."

Gusty didn't get to see Boomer's reaction, as at that point they turned the corner and she was whisked away into the study. Once again she found herself tossed through the air to land with perfect precision in the large, velvet chair.

The study was a little different this time. The fireplace had been extinguished, and sitting between the two chairs was a lamp with a flickering bulb. "What's with the creepy lighting?"

"My studies show that ponies are more honest when in a room lit by a single flickering bulb." Daffodil replied, seating herself across from Gusty. She set an old audio recorder on the table and turned it on. "Subject name, Gusty Breeze. Gender: Female. Age: 12. Tribe: Pegasus. Good evening, Gusty. How are you this evening?"

"Uh… okay, I guess?" Gusty's eyes flicked between Daffodil, Gruesome, and the recorder. _Somepony watches too many crime dramas. _"What's this about?"

"We'll be having meetings like this every Monday," explained Daffodil. "Recorded therapy sessions, basically. We'll be talking mostly about your mental state, both current and past, as well as the decisions that led up to the incident."

Gusty immediately sought an unoccupied wall to her left very fascinating, her ears pinning to her head. "I, uh… I really would rather not."

She felt Daffodil's wing gently touch her cheek, forcing her to meet her aunt's slightly unbalanced, but deadly serious green eyes. "Gusty, you have to. Undergoing regular therapy is one of the terms of your probation."

Gusty's gaze quickly tried to escape to the wall on the far side, only to be caught and gently corralled back to meet Daffodil's. "Gusty, I promise you, you can trust me. I'm here to help you."

Her face pinned in place, Gusty pointed with a wing in the general direction of Gruesome Gaze. "What about him?"

"I am here to help Mistress Daffodil, and by proxy, you," the stony pony replied.

Gusty and Daffodil simply held each other's gazes for what, to Gusty, felt like an eternity. Daffodil's slightly bloodshot eyes were caring, but firm. She could tell that her aunt would not relent on this. _Feathers. _"Okay…" she murmured.

Daffodil smiled encouragingly, taking her wings off Gusty and sitting back in her own chair. "Since it's our first meeting, I'll go easy on you. Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? I haven't seen you since you were a foal."

"I can do that. Where do I start?"

Daffodil pondered this for a moment. "How are things in school?"

_I'm a C student who flunked Flight School twice. _Her inner voice was apparently participating in this too. "Alright I guess. I'm scraping by."

Daffodil raised an eyebrow. Gusty did her best not to flinch or look away. "Interesting. Have you been in any fights?"

_Constantly. _"A few, yeah."

Daffodil nodded sagely. "Thank you for being at least partially honest. Try to be more so as we go, alright?"

Gusty's cheeks burned with shame. "Sorry…"

"Apology accepted. Now, please tell me the real answers to those questions."

Gusty reluctantly told her all she'd been thinking. Daffodil didn't comment. She just stayed politely quiet, letting Gusty talk. She spilled pretty much every bad moment she'd had in recent memory, like when she'd hit a colt who tried to take her lunch money when she was ten, or when she'd nearly flung a chair at the school principal for yelling at her before catching herself and breaking down crying in his office.

When she was finished, Daffodil stood from her chair and walked over to give her a wing-hug. Gusty was surprised, but nuzzled into the warm wall of fur and feathers nonetheless. "Thank you for that, Gusty."

They held the hug for a few more moments before Daffodil went back to her own seat. "So, you have a history of violence and academic troubles?"

Gusty sank a bit in her seat, but nodded.

Daffodil gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'm not here to judge. I'm sure we can find somepony to help with your grades, and I'm certified to help with your anger management."

Gusty returned her smile gratefully, her ears perking up just a little. "Thank you. Uh… what should I talk about next?"

Daffodil once again paused to think. "Hm. I don't have much of a script for this meeting, so how about you just tell me about your friends and life at home? Then we can turn off the recorder and go have dinner."

* * *

After an entertaining dinner, Gusty was actually feeling a little better about her situation. Tall Order had left them one of the biggest salads Gusty had ever seen, and Boomer had launched into a boisterous, animated description of her day at school, swearing vehemently that the exploded third floor toilet had not been her doing.

Unfortunately, when she pushed open her bedroom door, she found that she had an unwelcome guest.

"Hey, Hero," Snake Eyes greeted, lounging back on Gusty's bed as she flipped through Gusty's special book with her magic.

Gusty almost smacked Snake out of her bed right then and there, but found a red hoof restraining her from behind. "Relax," Boomer commanded. "I let her in," she informed as she stepped in and closed the door behind her.

"What!?" Gusty's breathing was starting to speed up, her wings flaring aggressively. _Whoa! Down filly, before you hurt somepony again. _

That sobering thought brought Gusty's temper back down, but only a little. "Why is she here, and why was she going through my stuff?" she demanded.

"She was visiting me, and because I asked her to," Boomer replied.

"Cuddles wanted me to make sure you weren't gonna bust out a hidden chainsaw or something and go crazy while she slept." Snake added.

"Nothing against you!" Boomer quickly assured. "But part of my tail still hasn't grown back after the last time one of Mom's projects did that."

Gusty physically deflated. _Of course she doesn't trust you. You're here because you almost killed somepony. You tackled her friend. Then she had to stop you from beating the Tartarus out of that same friend._

"Sorry, Hero. Didn't mean to make you sad." Snake Eyes didn't seem very sorry as she idly tossed the book up and caught it in her magic.

Gusty snatched it from her magical grasp, shooting her a look that could have melted steel.

Snake held her hooves up defensively, shooting back a teasing smirk. "Hey now! No need to get all mad. It's not your diary. Just some book of fairy tales."

"They aren't _fairy tales_!" Gusty snapped. "Those stories are real history!"

"What are you two talking about?" Boomer asked with a curious tilt of her head.

"Some book that Hero here was hiding under her mattress," Snake answered before Gusty could cut her off.

Gusty could feel Boomer's eyes burning into her. "You, little miss, have some explaining to do. There a reason you're hiding a book that isn't your diary?"

Gusty closed her eyes and sighed through her nose. "Yeah."

"Are you gonna tell us what it is?"

Instead of speaking, Gusty flipped to the first page of the book, the only place where the title was visible, and showed it to Boomer.

Boomer squinted at the words on the page. "The Book of… Heroes? What the hay is that?"

"The reason I'm here," Gusty replied.

"You mean like… the reason you beat the stuffing out of somepony?" Snake asked with interest.

"Yup." Gusty set the book on the desk, tapping the side of her lamp to wake the fireflies in it. Boomer and Snake curiously peered over her shoulders to see its contents.

"_The Hero's Oath is not one of pacifism," _Gusty read aloud. "_Rather 'tis the opposite; tis an oath to fight always- To fight against the darkness without and within. A Hero's work is never done, not even in the grave."_

"If that's why you mauled somepony, I don't think that's what the book meant," Snake quipped.

Gusty shot her a dirty look. "I know, dingus. That's not what happened. It tells a bunch of stories about these old Hero ponies, fighting injustice and evil. Things like Sunlight and Lightning Streak fighting against the dragons and Songbird travelling by hoof across the entire continent, before it was even unified. When I read some of them they… I dunno. Gave me hope, I guess. Something to live up to. A way I might not always be thought of as violent, unbalanced, and dangerous."

"So what _did _happen?" asked Boomer.

Gusty closed the book, putting it back under her mattress. After a heavy pause, she replied. "Somepony tried to take that hope away from me, and I broke all four of his legs." She looked between Snake Eyes and Boomer. "Can you two just… not tell Daffodil about this? I could get in big trouble if she finds out I have it."

"You didn't answer the question," Boomer accused.

"And I don't want to!" Gusty shot back.

"Why not?" asked Snake Eyes.

Gusty shook her head stubbornly. "It's… it's none of your business! Look, just… please don't tell anypony I have it? Please?"

The two of them shared a look. Boomer looked worried and dismayed, but Snake Eyes just shrugged.

"I personally don't see what the big deal is about some book," Snake Eyes admitted. "But honor among thieves I guess. I'm not a fan of the head shrinker anyway."

"She's not a shrink!" Boomer protested, giving Snake a dirty look that quickly turned to Gusty. "But I guess you aren't really hurting anything, Gusty. So long as you don't hurt anypony else over it, I won't tell mom. But, the second you do, I'll tell her everything I know faster than you can say 'end of chapter.'"

There really wasn't much to say after that. Gusty stubbornly refused to show any more of her book, and too much noise was likely to bring unwanted attention to the room. Snake Eyes climbed out the window and slid down the drain pipe, scampering off into the night. Boomer actually stopped to give Gusty a quick hug before she went back to her own bedroom.

Gusty curled up in her bed. What small amount of improvement her state of mind had made were gone. Small shakes and sobs racked her body. _They know. I'm doomed. Boomer doesn't trust me as far as she can throw me, and I trust Snake Eyes even less. One of them will talk. I just know it._

Her hysteric, paranoid crying proved to be rather exhausting. Slowly, the shivering and crying stopped, and blackness swallowed up her thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2: No Rest for the Wicked

_**Chapter 2: No Rest for the Wicked**_

The next morning started off cold, wet, and generally more unpleasant than the one before. The market was full of ponies both hawking goods and looking for a quick breakfast on the way to work or school. Some were also ducking under the makeshift canopies and tents that had been set up by the salesponies to keep out of the rain.

Gusty flew a short ways above and behind Daffodil and Boomer. Daffodil was happily trotting along, humming to herself, and Boomer galloped as quickly as her short legs could take her in order to keep up. She'd been rather cold towards Gusty that morning, pointedly avoiding talking to her as much as she could. Not that Gusty could blame her, after what had happened the previous night.

She stumbled a bit as she landed next to Boomer. "So, uh…" She struggled to think of something to say to start a conversation, without sounding overly awkward. "What's it like at this school?"

At first, she wasn't sure if Boomer would answer. But after a heavy pause, she replied. "Pretty close to what any big school is like, I guess."

"Anything I should know about before we get there?"

"Not really? I guess there are a couple of ponies you ought to watch out fo–"

She was cut off as both of them ran into Daffodil's outstretched wings. Gusty peeked under the wall of yellow feathers to see what had made Daffodil stop.

A crowd was gathering, but not around any of the stalls. They were gathering around what looked like a giant spike of ice jutting out of the ground. Out of nowhere, a figure in a thick white coat and matching gas mask came galloping past them, an unconscious purple colt draped over her back. "Out of the way! Coming through! Injured civilian!" the figure called in a muffled female voice.

Gusty could only watch in shocked awe as the figure jumped and, with a loud whoosh, slid away on an instantly-formed road of ice. "What the _hay _was that?"

Daffodil prodded her with a wing to get her walking again, moving through the dispersing crowd and past the giant column of ice. "Local troublemaker. Likes to think of herself as a superhero," she replied. "Steer clear of her. That isn't the first foal she's had to run to the hospital."

Gusty cast a worried look over her shoulder, intending to see how everypony else was reacting. Instead, she found a familiar face flitting between the distracted ponies. Snake Eyes was trotting along as if she hadn't a care in the world, but Gusty saw what she was really doing: almost every time she passed somepony distracted enough not to notice, she telekinetically slipped their bit purse out of their saddlebag and into her own.

Gusty's blood boiled. Here was this new "friend" who, according to Boomer, was supposed to help her stay out of trouble in school, blatantly robbing ponies in broad daylight!

She started to turn to tell Daffodil, but was forestalled by a leg across her chest from Boomer. "I'll explain later, promise," she whispered once an oblivious Daffodil had gone out of earshot. "Don't say anything. I'll explain later on. Please, just trust me."

When Gusty turned back to look for her, Snake was gone. Even if she spoke up, she'd have no proof. So Gusty reluctantly stayed quiet and kept walking. _Please tell me I didn't just help somepony commit a crime on my second day here._

* * *

Boomer split off as soon as the two of them walked in the school's front doors. Thankfully, Daffodil noticed. "So much for the idea of having her show you around," she joked with a roll of her eyes. "Come along. I'll take you to the office to find out what class you'll be in."

She guided Gusty through the sterile, white-tile halls. Each one seemed almost completely identical to the others, all lined with the same plain metal doors. Her stomach was already tied up in nervous knots, but the realization that the inside of the school looked a lot like a hospital made it much worse.

They finally stopped in front of a door at the very end of a hallway, with the word 'Administration' printed above it. Daffodil politely knocked on the door. There was a sound halfway between a snore and a snort, before the horned head of a cyan mare with a light-green mane popped out. She had bags under her yellow eyes and a security guard hat on her head. "What!?"

Daffodil took the hostile greeting in stride. "Good morning, Pepper! I'm afraid my niece here is new to this school, and she still needs to find out who her teacher is. Could you help, please?"

Pepper looked at Gusty through narrowed eyes. "You're the delinquent?"

"I… guess so? My name's Gusty."

"I'm Pepper Spray." Pepper let her name and its connotation hang in the air for a moment, before ducking back into her office and returning with a piece of paper. "Looks like you're in Mr. Wonderbread's class. Room 302. I'll be watching you on the cameras the whole way there. No funny business." With that, she slammed the door in Gusty's face.

Daffodil sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sorry about that, Gusty. I tried to keep your… checkered past quiet, but it seems some of it has slipped out."

Gusty just shrugged, rubbing her poor, abused muzzle. "I'll be fine." _I deserved it anyway. _"So, which way to room 302?"

"I'm afraid I don't know," Daffodil said with some dismay. "That isn't Boomer's class."

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, a familiar voice called out, "Hey there, Gusty! Miss B!"

Gusty was surprised to see that Daffodil looked just as displeased with Snake Eyes' presence as she was. "Hello, Snake Eyes." Daffodil greeted with the forced smile of a pony forced to cut off her own leg without flinching. "How are you today?"

"Eh, can't complain," Snake replied, either not noticing Daffodil's face or not caring. "You two need some help?"

Gusty and Daffodil shared a look, neither overly eager. For a moment, Gusty was sorely tempted to tell Daffodil what she'd seen in the market earlier. _Hold it, dingus. She knows about the book. She could just as easily sell you out._

So, forcing on a smile of her own, Gusty turned to Snake. "We're looking for Mr. Wonderbread's class. Do you know where it is?"

"Oh yeah!" Snake replied enthusiastically. "I'm in that class too. You can just follow me if you want."

Gusty nodded, giving Daffodil an awkward hug. "Be careful, Gusty," Daffodil said with a pointed look at Snake Eyes. "Have a good day, and don't get into trouble."

Gusty nodded. "I will. I promise."

As Daffodil left, Gusty could only think to herself, _I really hope I can keep that promise._

* * *

Gusty plodded slowly behind Snake, who pranced along like she was walking on air. "So thanks for not ratting me out back there," she whispered as she turned so that she was trotting backwards in front of Gusty. "I know you saw me in the market earlier, and probably aren't happy about it. Why didn't you?"

Gusty grimaced. "Because you could've told her about the book," she spat back, careful to keep her voice low. "I don't want to be friends with you. I don't want to hang out with you. I just want to finish my probation, and go home."

"Oh." Snake at least had the awareness to slow down, her ears pinning guiltily. "Look, uh… maybe we got off on the wrong hoof. I can explain why I was doing what you saw, but not here. Maybe you and Boomer can come to my house after school? No funny business, I promise."

Gusty wanted to say no. She really did. But her Little Inner Voice had a little nugget of wisdom to remind her of: _You're alone here, remember? No one else wants to be your friend. Not even your cousin. She says she can explain. Give her the benefit of the doubt. _

So with a heavy sigh, Gusty replied, "Fine."

Snake's beaming smile practically split her face in half. Gusty stiffened when she received an unwanted hug. "You won't regret it, I promise!"

_I really, really hope I won't._

Gusty was led into a classroom up on the third floor. The beige walls were unusually bare, without any posters or decorations. A couple of bookshelves lined the back wall, a chalkboard at the front of the classroom, and a short desk sat in front of it. Behind the desk, an incredibly plain earth pony stallion with a very light beige coat and oak-brown mane, tail, and moustache stood, apparently grading papers. A few other colts and fillies filed in behind them.

The stallion looked up, seeing Gusty. "Ah. You must be our new student," he droned in the voice of somepony who was used to ponies never hearing a word he said. "I'm Mr. Wonderbread."

"I'm Gusty," she greeted, politely shaking his hoof.

"Breeze?" he queried, looking down at a clipboard on his desk.

"Yes, sir."

He seemed genuinely surprised for some reason. But he just pointed to an empty seat in the back left corner of the room. "You can have the desk over there, next to Snake Eyes."

Gusty obediently took her seat. The classroom slowly started to fill up. She counted about ten colts and twenty fillies when they stopped coming in.

"Good morning, class," Wonderbread greeted.

Gusty's gut clenched, anticipating the announcement of a new student, for suspicious looks from every eye in the room.

But Mr. Wonderbread just went into his planned lesson, dully explaining some algebraic equation that Gusty had trouble grasping. She saw one or two of them giving her odd looks, but none outright hostile or scared.

_Huh. Maybe today won't be so bad after all. _

Unfortunately, Gusty was faced with another problem – she didn't understand a word of what was being taught. It was apparently some kind of algebra. She tried taking notes, but just didn't understand what she was looking at.

Snake peered over at her paper. For a second, Gusty thought she was trying to cheat. But then she subtly tilted her own notebook over so Gusty could see. Gusty gave her a smile of thanks.

With a little more help from Snake, Gusty actually managed to make it through the first few hours of class without much trouble. She almost jumped out of her seat when the bell rang.

"Have a nice lunch, everypony," Wonderbread dismissed, sitting down at his desk and opening a magazine.

Snake motioned for Gusty to follow her, and both of them went with the river of students from the other classrooms.

The cafeteria was on the first floor. It was fairly spacious, and full of lots of small round tables, but smelled of B.O. and broken dreams. The lunch ladies smelled even worse, to the point it was almost impossible to smell the drab slop that was supposedly food… which may have been a good thing, to be honest.

Gusty followed Snake to a familiar yellow mane at a table in the far corner of the cafeteria. Boomer looked up when the two of them approached her. "Wow. No black eyes," she joked. "I'd call that a success for the first part of the day."

"Heck yeah! Hero and me are best friends now!" Snake Eyes threw a hoof around Gusty's shoulders, which she pushed off with a scowl.

"She helped me when I had trouble with math," Gusty explained. "I'm gonna go over to her house later."

Boomer raised an eyebrow. "Really? You go from wanting to beat the stuffing out of her yesterday to wanting to be friends with her?"

"To be fair, I haven't stolen from her or broken into her room today," quipped Snake.

"Either way," Gusty interrupted. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hurt you or tried to hurt you, and I shouldn't have lost my temper. Neither of us made a very good first impression, but… you say you have your reasons, so I guess I can give you a chance." _As much as it makes me want to tear my mane out._

"Well thank you for deigning to tolerate us, your highness!" Boomer said with a glare. "And aren't you forgetting that Mom said you need a chaperone to go anywhere?"

Gusty frowned. "Uh… Aren't you and Snake friends? You could just go with me."

"So you can know where she lives and go after her in some crazy mood swing? Yeah. I don't think so."

"Whoa whoa!" Snake waved her hooves to cut them off before that could go any further. "I asked her to come over, Boomer. Could you please let her? I really think she might chill out a little around me if she knows why I do what I do."

Boomer was clearly not happy with that answer. Snake stuck out her quivering lower lip, letting a single crocodile tear slide down her cheek.

A glint of mischief appeared in Boomer's eyes. "Fine. She can go. I'll even talk Mom into letting her go. On one condition."

A chill went up Gusty's spine at Boomer's sudden grin. She gulped nervously. "S-sure. What?"

Boomer leaned forward, and whispered her reply; "If Snake is gonna be honest with you, it's only fair that you be honest with us too. I want you to bring that book, and I want to know why you're so obsessed with it. What's so special about it?"

Gusty was silent for a moment, wings shuffling as her eyes fell in uncertainty.

Boomer leaned back in her seat. "Those are my terms. Take 'em or leave 'em."

Gusty _really _wanted to say no. It would give her an excuse to not associate with Snake, and would likely keep her out of trouble in the long run. But now Snake had turned that same pleading, puppy-eyed look on her. And this one looked much more sincere, as if a no really would hurt her. Plus, she'd already given her word to give Snake the benefit of the doubt. After a long pause, Gusty let out a sigh of resignation. "Fine. I'll do it."

Snake beamed. "Sweet! We're gonna have an awesome time! You just wait!"

Boomer gave a nod of approval. "Good. Give us a good reason for it and I'll even forgive what happened yesterday, if you're actually sorry for it."

Gusty actually gave a reluctant smile at that. Going over to a friend's house for a little while just seemed so… normal. It was a nice feeling, even if the circumstances were weird.

Of course, Gusty's Law proclaimed that all good feelings must be matched with horrible ones.

"Hey!" Pepper Spray shouted as she stomped her way over to their table. In addition to her security hat, she wore a black saddle, lined with bright orange cans of what Gusty guessed was her namesake. "I heard raised voices over here! Are you three fighting?"

"No ma'am!" Gusty replied, ears pinned back.

Pepper did not seem to think it was genuine. "A smart aleck, eh? I don't believe you."

"But we really weren't!" Snake argued.

"Quiet!" Pepper snapped. "I have even less reason to believe you than I do her, you little menace!"

"It's called being a loveable scamp…" Snake muttered indignantly.

Boomer started to argue too, but Pepper whirled on her. "And you! I haven't forgotten when you destroyed my coffee machine! Don't think that I'm going to lighten up on you two just because you have Legbreaker here in your little clique. I'm going to watch you like a hawk for as long as I can!"

She did just that. For the rest of lunch, she stood a couple of feet away, staring at them. She had been right about one thing. At first, Gusty felt very much like a mouse in front of a hawk. But that feeling was quickly being replaced with a boiling in her gut. What reason did this bitter old nag have to come over and shout at them, watch them like they were going to start a riot in the cafeteria?

But her thoughts were cut off by a subtle prod in her side. It was Snake. She pantomimed taking a long, deep breath. Gusty, realizing that getting mad at a security guard with her track record for impulsive violence was not a good idea, took a calming breath, mentally forcing her anger down as much as she could. The absolute last thing she wanted was a repeat of what got her sent here.

The bell telling them lunch was over was a mercy, even if it meant they all had to split up. The river of other colts and fillies switched direction, practically carrying Gusty and Snake back to Mr. Wonderbread's classroom. The stallion himself wasn't there, so lots of quiet conversations had sprung up when they got back to their desks. Gusty listened in on a few of them. One or two were about her. The rest were just standard school talk about sports, gossip, and an upcoming dance.

Snake saw Gusty looking around, and laughed. "Thank goodness Nutshell's absent today."

"Why's that?" Gusty asked. "He can't be worse than Pepper Spray has been so far."

"He's the Hall Monitor," Snake explained. "The other day, I overheard him getting told about you coming. He started calling you a bully and a thug, and said if you tried anything he'd put you in your place."

Gusty really wasn't sure how to react to that.

Before she could decide, Mr. Wonderbread came into the room, looking every bit as tired and uninterested as he had that morning. "Sorry I'm late, everypony. Let me get today's homework passed out, then we can get into Ponish."

* * *

"No! A thousand times no!"

Needless to say, Daffodil hadn't exactly reacted well to Gusty's request. She and Boomer had argued the entire way home. Gusty was a little bulldozed by their shouting, and mostly just did her best to stay out of the blast zone.

"That little scoundrel will be nothing but a bad influence!" Daffodil hissed. "Just last week she filled my office with hundreds of wild flowers! I was nearly buried when I opened the door!"

"Technically, falling over laughing isn't proof of guilt," Boomer reminded. "And either way, I'll be there to keep them both out of trouble."

Daffodil still looked very skeptical. "Boomer, you know I trust you. But I don't think it's a good idea to expose Gusty to negative influences until she's progressed in her therapy."

"But she helped Gusty out in class today!"

"Be that as it may, she's still a mischievous little curr and I don't think it's a good idea to–"

"Uh… mind if I say something?" All of the shouting was starting to give Gusty a headache, and that was starting to irritate her. She had to cut in before she did something stupid.

Both of them turned to look at Gusty. Daffodil straightened her glasses, but Boomer left hers crooked. "Of course," said Daffodil with an apologetic smile.

She hadn't actually considered that speaking up might have also been something stupid. _Alright, dingus. Let's see if you can spin this one. How's she gonna react to the fact that you didn't tell her what happened yesterday?_

Her Little Voice had a point. She took a moment to get her story straight. "Well… I didn't want to trust Snake Eyes either at first. But then… I dunno. I kinda thought that I don't have any real friends around here. We got off on the wrong hoof the other day. She pulled a joke on me in the market, and I flipped my lid on her. But today she apologized, and was really nice to me. She's the only one giving me the chance to prove myself trustworthy, so I want to give it to her too."

Daffodil shook her head stubbornly. "Gusty, she's a bad influence. Even if she's a small one, her company will not benefit you."

"Maybe Gusty could be a good influence on her?" Boomer suggested. "Judging by that blow up the other day, she's not a fan of pranks."

That gave Daffodil pause. "Hm… That's true. Being a positive role model for somepony else has been statistically shown to do wonders for self-confidence." She touched a hoof to her chin, seemingly deep in thought. "Alright. I'll let her go over."

"Yes!" Boomer pumped her hoof, while Gusty gave Daffodil a quick, tight hug. "Thanks, Aunt Daffodil. You're the best."

Daffodil straightened her glasses bashfully. "I'll walk you over there, and don't leave on your own once you're there! I'll come to pick you both up. That way I can talk with her parents about Gusty's behavior while she was over there. I'll give you both some bits, just in case you want to order a pizza or something. I don't want you going hungry. And you should probably take your homework over too, to get it done while you're there."

That turned out to be a perfect excuse for Gusty to go upstairs and get the book. As she hid it under her homework in her saddlebag, she swore it felt a little bit lighter than it had when she'd handled it the night before. _Weird. Heh. Maybe it approves. _

* * *

Boomer led the way to Snake Eyes' house. As it turned out, Daffodil had no idea where it was.

They stopped in front of one of the tall, brownstone apartment buildings that lined the main street. "This is it," Boomer announced. "Her mom is probably asleep right now, so you mind if we head up on our own?"

Daffodil nodded. "Yes. I trust you to keep these two on the straight-and-narrow." She gave them both a tight hug. "Be good! I expect to hear great things!"

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on them," Boomer promised. "Gusty won't buck anypony into a wall on my watch." She pushed her glasses up her muzzle to cover a smirk.

Gusty looked up at the apartment building. Being almost identical to every other one on the street, they looked much more like parts of a wall than actual buildings. If not for the windows, she might not have been able to tell that anypony lived there.

The lobby wasn't much more than a small tiled room with a rickety, wooden desk with nopony behind it. The elevator bore a faded 'OUT OF ORDER' sign. The staircase they took to the third floor was slim enough to give any claustrophobe a heart attack.

Boomer knocked gently on the door marked '32.' "Who's there?" A gruff, angry voice demanded from inside.

"Tax pony," Boomer deadpanned.

To Gusty's surprise, the pony who answered the door wasn't an aging mare with a cigar in her mouth, but rather Snake eyes herself, wearing an impish grin. "Hey there, Cuddles," she whispered. "I see you brought along our local hero. Come on in. Mom's asleep, so try to stay quiet."

The inside of Snake's apartment was mostly what Gusty expected– a small living room, with a dull beige carpet and walls. A couple of hallways went off to what she expected were the kitchen and bedrooms. But there were little hints that somepony had tried to pretty the place up as much as possible. A cheap wooden coffee table with a vase full of yellow flowers sat in front of a small brown couch. Cute pink curtains with pictures of different kinds of cookies covered the only window.

Snake shushed them both, and started to lead them down the hall in the back of the living room. But before she could, a soft voice spoke up. "Who's at the door, sweetheart?"

A mare stood in the doorway. She looked almost exactly like a sized-up Snake Eyes in her coloration, but something was wrong with her. She was skin-and-bones, with sunken eyes and a dullness to her coat. Her horn looked to have several tiny cracks on the very tip. She walked with a pronounced limp as she approached them. Her mane and tail were an odd contrast to the rest of her; they were obviously washed, curled, and attended to with utmost care. Her smile was warm and welcoming. Gusty immediately liked her.

"Hello, Boomer!" the mare greeted in a low voice. She actually stepped forward to nuzzle Boomer affectionately, and Boomer returned the gesture with a smile. "Who's your friend? I don't think she's been over before."

"I'm Gusty," she greeted. "Boomer's my cousin. I'm new in town."

"It's lovely to meet you, Gusty!" The mare bumped hooves with her. Gusty, being rather afraid of breaking the frail mare, didn't put much force into it. "My name's Sweet Cream. Make yourself at home."

"Are you Snake's mom?" Gusty asked with a tilt of her head.

Sweet Cream gave her a kind smile, but with a mischievous glint in her eyes that Gusty couldn't discern the purpose of. "You could say that, yes."

Before Gusty could ask what she meant, Snake Eyes stepped forward, laughing nervously. "Hahaha! Mom is so funny! Uh… maybe you ought to get back to bed? You need your rest."

Sweet Cream patted Snake on the head, chuckling. "Dear, I may not get around as well as I used to, but Celestia take me if I can't at least make some daisy sandwiches. Go on back to your room with your friends."

"I can help if you like, ma'am!" Gusty offered.

"Well aren't you sweet! But no. It's been too long since I've had an excuse to get up and cook for my little filly."

"Mom, come on," Snake complained. "Let us help you."

Sweet gave a roll of her eyes and a good-natured chuckle. "How about this; if I need help, I'll come ask you, okay?"

Snake still looked reluctant, but didn't have a rebuttal. "Alright… come on, guys. My room is back here."

As it turned out, Snake's bedroom was also the laundry room. It was basically just a small twin bed next to a washing machine and dryer, with a few posters depicting some singer or another on the walls. A large window dominated one wall, that Gusty guessed led out to the fire escape.

"Welcome to my inner sanctum!" Snake introduced with a wave of her hoof, having regained some of her energy. "Watch out for the laundry soap. It's easy to trip over. Have a seat on the bed."

Gusty sat down, sliding off her saddlebags. "So… what's wrong with your mom?"

Snake's smile got smaller. "She's sick." She sat down next to Gusty with a small sigh. "Can't work, the doctor says. She thinks I have a job."

Gusty may not have been the brightest filly, but even she could put two and two together. "That's why you started stealing."

Snake shrugged again. "It's the only thing that I was good at that made enough bits to pay rent every month. Mom gets a little bit from the place she used to work at. It keeps us fed, but it isn't enough."

"How long has this been going on?" Gusty asked in disbelief.

Snake paused to think about that for a minute. "I've been doing it since I was seven, so five years, give or take a month or two."

Gusty raised an eyebrow a bit. "You don't seem to be very guilty about all this."

"I mean… should I be? The sneaking around and all is fun. I'm good at it. And I'm taking care of my family."

Gusty was unsure how to respond. She could only sit in awkward silence for a few moments, before Boomer perked up. "Hey! That reminds me. Mom gave us a bag of bits each."

To Gusty's surprise, she pulled out the entire bag and passed it to Snake, who accepted it with a grateful smile. "You're the best, Cuddles." She stuck her tongue out in concentration as she used her magic to dump the bits onto the top shelf of a cabinet above the washing machine. Gusty spotted several other piles of the gold coins up there.

"You're giving all your bits to her?" Gusty asked with a concerned frown.

Boomer's only reply was a nonchalant shrug. "She needs them more than I do. I usually give her about half my allowance every time I get it."

"It helps keep at least a few ponies' pocket change safe," Snake joked wryly. "I may have a bit of fun with it so I don't go crazy, but I'm not a monster. I watch ponies; get an idea for how much they have, so that I never take more than they can spare. Cuddles' donations mean I don't have to take as much." Snake's unflappable grin hadn't wavered, but there was just a little bit of sadness to it now.

All three of them sat still and silent for a moment. Gusty had no idea what Boomer and Snake were thinking, but she couldn't help feeling a conflict within herself about all this. _Should I just accept all this, and be friends with Snake? It's absolutely gonna cause me a lot of trouble if I do. Should I just get up and leave? No. I can't let somepony else go through that. Just… What should I do? _The two sides of her mind eventually settled on one question: _What would the book tell me to do?_

Slowly, Gusty climbed down from her seat on the bed, walking over to her saddlebags. She pulled out the bag of bits that Daffodil had given her and hoofed it to Snake. Both Snake and Boomer seemed genuinely surprised. It was Snake who finally broke the silence, giving her a sincere and grateful smile. "Thanks, Gusty."

The door creaked open and Sweet Cream's muzzle poked in. "Sorry to bother you three, but it turns out that I do need some help reaching the plates."

Snake started to get up, but Gusty waved her down. "I've got this."

She followed Sweet Cream into the small, cramped kitchen. She flapped up to the unusually high cabinet, which would have been tough for a pony without wings or magic to reach, and grabbed a stack of glass plates.

"Thanks, Gusty." Sweet Cream accepted the plates with a flickering, light blue magic. "It's been a while since I've cooked. My little busybody normally insists on doing it herself."

"Snake Eyes must be a really good daughter," Gusty remarked.

As she put three toasted sandwiches onto the plates, Sweet Cream gave a small, but proud smile. "Yes, she is."

"If you don't mind my asking, what did you mean earlier?" said Gusty with a small tilt of her head. "'You could say that.' Are you not Snake's real mom or something?"

Sweet Cream burst into a fit of laughter, which devolved into a fit of coughing. Gusty, unsure what to do, patted her gently on the back with a wing. When she had recovered, Sweet Cream let out another small chuckle. "No, dear. I am in fact her real mother. I simply meant that Snake Eyes isn't her real name."

Gusty was rather taken aback by this new revelation. "It isn't?"

"Nope! It's a rather silly nickname that she made up for herself. Seems she wasn't very fond of the one I gave her."

Now normally, Gusty wasn't prone to teasing others. She was, however, a curious one. Maybe a little mischief would improve the mood with Boomer and Snake. "So… what is her real name?"

When Sweet Cream whispered the name in her ear, a slow grin spread across Gusty's face. _I am so getting her back for all the nicknames._

* * *

Gusty made her way back to Snake's bedroom, one plate on each wing and one on her back.

"And then the unicorn says 'That's weird. I only use my horn for kebabs!'"

Boomer giggled uncontrollably at whatever joke Snake had told. It seemed Snake had regained some of her energy since Gusty had left.

Gusty carefully sat the plates down on the bed. "Sandwiches for all," she announced.

Snake threw her hooves up. "The valiant hero has returned! Thanks for helping mom out. It really means a lot."

Gusty didn't flinch at Snake's teasing nickname. "No problem, Cookie."

Her mouth was suddenly blocked by both of Snake's hooves. "Homework! We'd better get our homework done while we eat so Gusty can tell us her thing with the book, right Boomer?"

She went to Boomer looking for sympathy, but found a smile not unlike that of a hungry timberwolf. No rescue was coming from her best friend.

Gusty easily pushed "Snake's" hooves off of her muzzle, wearing a similar grin. "What's wrong? Cookie is such a cute name."

"It is pretty adorable," Boomer agreed.

"Agggggggh!" Snake/Cookie collapsed backwards on the bed, hooves over her ears. "Please, never call me that. It hurts my soul every time I hear it. What'll happen if I ever get caught? Can you imagine the name 'Cookie Cream' on a mugshot?"

Gusty tried to hold it back, to the point of a long, loud snort coming out of her nostrils. But it was in vain. Laughter exploded out of her, making her fall on her rump to keep from tipping over backwards. The idea of that name on a wanted poster, with a picture of Snake pouting, blushing, and refusing to look at the camera, was just so hilarious that she couldn't help it.

When she'd caught her breath and wiped her watery eyes with a wing, she noticed the two of them looking at her strangely. "Uh… sorry." She looked down, cheeks burning bashfully.

"Don't be," Snake assured. "That's just the first time I've heard you laugh since I met you."

"Same!" Boomer agreed. "And I live with you now!"

The three of them shared a laugh.

Snake gave a stretch. "Anyway, we really ought to get our homework done if we want to hear Hero's story before you guys gotta go home."

"I put my saddlebags in the corner over there." Boomer pointed towards her set of brown bags.

"I'll get them for you," Gusty offered, hopping off the bed.

"No wait!" Boomer shouted.

It was too late. As soon as Gusty laid a hoof on the bags, there was a quiet hiss, and the bags exploded.

The three reacted just quickly enough to dive for cover behind Snake Eyes' small bed. Loud pops and bangs went off for several minutes as small, colorful fireworks exploded in the air just above their heads.

When the fireworks show was over, Gusty gave Boomer an incredulous, panicked look. "What the _hay _was that!?"

Boomer gave a sheepish smile as she retrieved a textbook and a few sheets of paper from her seemingly intact bag. "My chemistry homework. Sorry. I meant to leave it in my room at home, but I forgot."

Snake climbed shakily to her hooves. "Cuddles, you gotta start checking your saddlebags before you leave school. How is your bag not destroyed?"

"Mom got me fireproof bags last week, after the mayor complained."

When the dust cleared, the three of them got down to work. Just like in class, Snake helped Gusty with anything she struggled with, and even helped Boomer from time to time.

Gusty worked slowly on purpose, knowing what was in for her when they finished. Nevertheless, the moment arrived when all homework was finished and put away. The three of them settled in, and Boomer gave Gusty a pointed look. "Well, Snake held up her end of the deal. Time for you to hold up yours."

Snake had apparently already gone through Gusty's bag to find the book, and was currently balancing it on the tip of her nose, spine-up. She bounced it off her nose like a trained seal, and used her magic to pass it to Gusty. She took it, being too nervous to be mad.

She settled in on the bed and opened the book in front of her. Boomer and Snake hopped over to where they could get a good view.

It took a while for Gusty to find the page she was looking for. She was incredibly careful as she flipped through the old, slightly-yellowed pages. "It'd take too long to read all these out, so I'll just go over a few that should give you a general idea."

The page she stopped on had a picture of an Earth Pony mare with some kind of stringed musical instrument, drawn in black ink. "Songbird was a homeless alcoholic. When she joined the Heroes, she saved six villages from windigoes, and became the first pony to ever walk clear across the continent ocean-to-ocean on hoof."

She flipped a few more pages forward to an unusually small unicorn holding two crossbows in his magic aura, surrounded on all sides by ponies with swords and longbows. "Real McCoy was a bandit, and was in jail when the Heroes recruited him. He protected a whole town from his own former gang by himself."

Several more pages on, she stopped at a picture of a griffon in heavy armor, holding what was either an axe or a hammer. "Gilfried the Great. Supposedly was king of Griffonstone for a few months, 'til he tried to go to war over some diplomat eating a sandwich that was supposedly his. Needless to say, his army rebelled. He was exiled. After he was almost executed for trying to raise a peasant rebellion in Equestria, he joined the Heroes. He earned his nickname after that, helping any creature he came across wherever he went, even just feeding the poor and hungry."

"Heck of a turnaround," Snake quipped. "Guy goes from starting a war over stolen lunch to being some kind of saint."

"Seems a bit too good to be true," Boomer agreed. "It sounds to me like it's just a book of stories."

Gusty scowled. "Well I think they're real. There's too much in it for it not to be. A lot more than I just showed– Rules and stuff like that. Do you see the point I'm trying to get at, though? What they have in common?"

"Seems like they were all total jerks, who somehow managed to turn their lives around," Boomer surmised.

Gusty gave her a pointed look.

A grin of realization came over Snake. "Ohhhh! I get it. You're a total jerk, and the book made you want to turn your life around."

Gusty's wings shuffled, and her ears pinned. "Kinda, I guess? The Heroes existed to help common ponies and creatures. I wanna do the same thing. I don't try to hurt anypony. I just get so mad sometimes that I just… lose it." She hung her head with a sigh. "The book makes me hope that I might eventually be able to use my violent streak to help ponies."

"That what happened when you broke that guy's legs?" asked Boomer.

Gusty clammed up immediately. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Well you're _going _to!" Boomer insisted. "That was the deal."

"No. The deal was that I'd tell you about the book, and why it means so much to me."

Boomer stomped her hoof on the bed. "Hey! You know I'm not gonna take that. You're gonna tell us whether you like it or not."

Snake looked between them with a worried frown. "Girls, please don't fight."

If either of them heard her, neither of them showed it. Gusty stood up, wings flared and teeth bared. "I don't want to talk about it, so I'm not going to. Get it through your thick skull."

"Or what, huh?" Boomer challenged. "You gonna pound it through?"

Gusty almost gave her a hoof to the teeth for that remark, but Snake popped up between them before she could. "Whoa whoa whoa! Both of you, cut it out." To Gusty's surprise, she turned to Boomer first. "You, stop trying to start a fight. Even I'm not that stupid. And _you." _she turned to Gusty. "This one may not have been your fault, but if you _ever _hurt Cuddles, I will end you. Clear?"

The boiling in Gusty's gut quickly faded to ice-cold. "I… I'm sorry." Her voice quivered, and she seemed to physically shrink as she collapsed to her belly, covering her face with her hooves and wings. "I'm _so _sorry. I didn't mean to! I almost hit you!"

Most of the anger in Boomer's voice faded, replaced with confusion. "Uh… jeez, calm down. It was just an argument. Chill out."

"But I almost hurt you!" Gusty wailed, taking her hooves away to reveal that she was actually crying.

"Hey now, stiff upper lip, Hero," Snake soothed. "No need for the waterworks. Keep on doing this and we'll think you're some kind of crybaby."

Gusty wiped her nose, forcing herself to regain some of her composure. "Sorry."

Snake poked Gusty's snout with a hoof playfully. "And stop saying that over and over again."

"You sound like a parrot who just learned a new word," Boomer agreed.

Gusty was going to say 'sorry' again, but caught herself with a blush and a small, bashful smile.

"Okay, so, touchy subject, obviously." Boomer rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. "Sorry for prying so much."

Gusty shuffled her hooves. "It's okay."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm no wimp. Mom and I may not have been up to Breeze Bastion in a while, but we're still Breezes. Mom taught me how to protect myself." Boomer gave Gusty a playful punch to the shoulder. It hurt, but it did lighten the mood just a little.

Boomer cleared her throat, looking like she was trying to find the right words to say. "Look, if you won't tell us about what happened, will you at least tell us why you don't want to?"

Gusty rubbed a hoof on the back of her head. "Well… to tell you the truth, I don't really remember a lot. When I get really angry, I just black out. Plus it just hurts to talk about. I don't really know you guys, I don't want to just spill my guts only to have you both turn on me."

"Snake trusted you enough to tell you about what she's doing," Boomer pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm not all that ashamed of what I do," said Snake. "I can do stuff to avoid hurting ponies with my issues. She kinda can't."

"You're siding with _her!?" _Boomer exclaimed incredulously.

Snake nodded. "Honestly, I wouldn't trust me either. She's taking a pretty big gamble trusting us. If somepony finds out we told her about all this, and she didn't tell on us, she could get in big trouble. I think we can be polite enough to wait until she's ready to tell us what actually happened."

"I guess so…" Boomer conceded.

There was a soft knock on the door. Sweet Cream poked her head inside the room. "Sorry to bother you, girls. But Boomer's mom is here to pick up her and Gusty."

Boomer stood up and stretched. "Alright. I'll let you off the hook. I guess it isn't really my business what happened."

Gusty smiled and nodded thankfully. She and Snake shared a hoofbump. "Glad to have ya over, Hero. I'll walk you two out."

* * *

Snake's empty room was quiet for a few seconds. Once the door was closed and the coast was clear, the window to the fire escape opened, and a pony silently climbed through.

The pony looked about the room, ensuring that it was empty. Voices elsewhere in the house confirmed that nopony was headed back towards the bedroom. Good.

From inside their coat, the pony produced a yellow manilla envelope and placed it on the bed.

They started to move towards the window, but halted, looking towards the cabinet above the washing machine. _It's all stolen. She can't tell anypony… _At least, if what they'd overheard from their hiding spot was true. They cursed the fact that they hadn't brought a camera or audio recorder. They could've tripled their earnings.

It took some doing, but the intruder scooped much of the loot in the cabinet into the pockets of their coat. As much as they could take.

A set of hoofsteps coming towards the bedroom made the intruder's ears flick. _Horseapples. Out of time. Gotta go._

The figure leapt out the window, closing it behind them in just the nick of time. The cover of dusk was just enough to cover their escape as they slipped down the fire escape and into the street.

* * *

Daffodil was practically vibrating with happiness on the way home. She spouted endless praise about how much Sweet Cream had told her of Gusty's good behavior. Thankfully, Sweet Cream had either not heard the fireworks going off in her house, or had simply decided not to say anything.

But Gusty wasn't listening much. Her mind was otherwise occupied. The events of the evening had her burnt out. She wasn't sad. She wasn't angry, she wasn't even frustrated. She was just worn out and tired.

Still, she couldn't help but think about the one hard fact she'd learned tonight: She wasn't as alone in her problems as she thought. As they passed through the slowly emptying marketplace, she spotted one or two merchants giving nervous looks. But the looks were never towards her. Each and every one looked to be for Boomer. If Gusty had to guess, the explosive incident in Snake's room wasn't Boomer's first.

When they reached the house, Daffodil finally seemed to notice how exhausted Gusty was. "I was going to show off some of my stories from the trophy room, but you look like you'd rather get some rest before dinner."

Gusty gave a grateful nod as she went up to her bedroom, noting that Tall, Dark, and Gruesome were nowhere to be found. It felt absolutely heavenly to collapse on the bed and close her eyes for a little while. She dozed for a little while, enjoying the chance to relax.

She was awoken by a knock at her bedroom door. Gusty sighed through her nose, one hoof rubbing her head. "Come in."

Boomer opened the door and poked her head in. "My room. Now." She left and closed the door.

Gusty sat up. "Well, alright then."

She trotted down the hall to Boomer's room, pushing the door open. The room was a lot more packed than Gusty's. It was full of what looked like chemistry sets, mechanical parts, and dozens of pages of notes taped to the walls that were all _way _over Gusty's head.

Oh. And a dejected, sobbing Snake Eyes.

Snake looked absolutely awful. Her mane was disheveled, her eyes were bloodshot, and the fur around them was matted with tears. She sat in front of a scattered pile of papers.

Gusty may not have been very bright, but even she could tell that Snake needed some comfort. She sat down beside her crying friend, pulling her into a wing hug. "Hey now, it's gonna be okay. What's going on?"

Snake sniffled, pointing to the papers on the ground in front of her. Boomer pushed it forward so that Gusty could read.

_Dear Miss Cream,_

_I hope this letter finds you in good health. As I am sure you know, there has been a rash of petty thefts in our local outdoor market. You can see in the contents included with this letter that I have obtained proof that you are responsible. These are, of course, only copies. You have one week to deliver one thousand bits to a large hole in the ground in Imp's Hollow Park. Obviously, as all the bits you've obtained are ill-gotten, you will not go to the authorities. If the bits are not in place by exactly one week from the time of you receiving this letter, the police will receive the exact same evidence that you have received. Until then, I bid you good evening, and look forward to receiving your payment. _

_Sincerely yours, _

_Nopony._

After she finished reading the letter, Gusty looked to the papers beneath it, and realized with a growing sense of dread exactly what they were:

Photos.

There were ten of them in total. They were a little blurry, but they were definitely of Snake in the market. Each of them showed her swiping another bit bag from a different stranger.

Snake sniffled again. "Th-they took it… weeks of saving up… hundreds of bits… They robbed me when they left the letter… There's no way I can get that much in a week now..." She burst into a set of fresh sobs.

Boomer nudged Gusty out of the way, wrapping her front legs around Snake. Snake promptly buried her muzzle into Boomer's chest and returned the hug, quietly wailing into her fur.

Gusty stood. The boiling that normally stayed in her gut was starting to spread. Her teeth clenched and her breathing grew heavy. She needed to do something fast, or she'd black out. "Are you using your closet door much?" she asked Boomer.

Boomer looked at her, confused. "Uh… I guess not? Things blow up in here a lot, and it's a little flimsy to actually protect anything. All my important stuff is in the trunk in the corner."

"Great. Thanks." With a jerk of her hind legs, she bucked seven times, each time smashing the closet door into smaller and smaller splinters. When she finally stopped, her breathing was ragged, her nostrils were flared, and the closet door was completely unrecognizable for what it had been. She took a deep, shaky breath, and her boiling anger lowered to a simmer.

When she turned back around, Boomer and Snake were staring at her wordlessly. "Sorry," she managed to get out.

Boomer shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess it's fine. I'll tell Mom something blew up. Happens all the time. That's not important right now. What is important is figuring out how we're gonna help Snakey."

Gusty nodded in agreement. "I'm in."

Snake frowned. "But you'll get in trouble."

"Doesn't matter," Gusty and Boomer said, almost in unison. They shared a look, and Boomer chuckled. "That's what I hoped you'd say. We're gonna need all the help we can get."

Snake looked at her in confusion. "What are you gonna do?"

"_We," _Boomer corrected as she pointed between the three of them with a hoof, "are gonna find Nopony, and figure out how to stop them."

Snake's eyes widened. "Whoa whoa whoa! We're all like, twelve. We can't just go after a blackmailer! We don't even know who they are!"

"I have a few ideas about how we can find out," Boomer replied. "Once we figure out who they are… I dunno. Maybe we can blackmail them back or something."

Snake looked at the floor. "Maybe I should just go to the police."

Boomer shook her head stubbornly. "No! I am not letting you get arrested, and your mom get evicted. You agree with me, right Gusty?"

Gusty nodded. "I may not like you stealing, but I _hate _trying to steal from somepony who can barely pay rent. I can't just sit and do nothing."

That got a tiny laugh out of Snake, as she wiped some of the tears off of her cheeks with a hoof.. "Hero's gotta do what a hero's gotta do, I guess."

Gusty's stood straight, puffed out her chest, spread her wings, and lifted one of her front hooves in the most heroic pose she could think of.

Boomer raised an eyebrow. "You realize you'll probably have to buck somepony in the head by the time this is all over?"

Gusty deflated. "Uh…"

"I mean, one of us has to be the group muscle, and you beat down a full-grown stallion, right?"

Gusty felt like she'd physically gotten smaller. "Yeah, but…"

Boomer glared at her. "Gusty, are you in, or out? If you don't want to get in trouble, don't bother joining in. We're doing this to save Snake. If one of us gets in trouble, we're _all _going to."

A snippet of a line from the book echoed through Gusty's head: '_The Hero's Oath is not one of pacifism."_

Her mouth set in a hard line. She gave a single nod. "I'm in."

Boomer returned her nod with a smirk. "Good. We can meet up tomorrow after school to talk about a plan. Until then, I think you ought to head home, Snake. You don't want your mom realizing you're gone."

Snake sniffled, her tears finally dried up. "Alright, but one more thing before I go." She stuck her hoof out, seemingly waiting for them to do something. "C'mon, you two aren't gonna leave me hanging, are you?"

Gusty and Boomer figured out what Snake wanted at about the same time, and shared a smile as they touched their hooves to hers. "Go team!" Snake cheered with a chuckle as they lifted their hooves. "Alright, I better head home."

She slid the window open, just as she had the previous night. But she stopped before she climbed out. "Hey girls?"

"Yeah?" said Gusty with a curious tilt of her head.

Snake turned back and smiled. "Thanks."

With that she climbed out the window, giving a playful salute as she hopped down and out of sight.


	3. Chapter 3: Chasing Tales

_**Chapter 3: Chasing Tales**_

Gusty wasn't able to sleep that night. Almost as soon as Snake had left, her stomach started tying itself in nervous knots. Boomer looked exhausted, so she left her cousin to get some rest.

She could have gone off and found a book to read to help her calm down, or even read from the Book of Heroes. But she wasn't in the mood for reading. She almost wished she could go for an evening flight to expend all of her nervous energy. But her back legs were searing with pain from bucking that closet door. The pain flared up every time she moved them, and she'd need to straighten them out to fly properly.

Since that wasn't a possibility, she sat down at her bedroom desk. She found the materials she needed for writing letters in one of the desk drawers.

_Dear Dad, _

_I hope you're doing okay when you read this. I know you're probably worried. I showed up alright. Aunt Daffodil is really nice so far._

_I'm doing my best to stay out of trouble, like I promised you I would. I even made a couple of new friends on my first day at school! One of them is helping me with math. I met my cousin Boomer. She's the one who showed me around town._

_The last couple of days have been a little rough. I cried a lot on the first day, but I'm starting to feel a little better. I know you're disappointed in me. I understand. I love you, and I'll do better, just like I promised I would. I miss you. I hope you can come out to visit soon._

_Love, Gusty. _

Gusty's heart hurt that she couldn't tell her father the truth. He didn't know about the book, so she had to leave out anything related to it, and he would absolutely not be happy to hear about her helping Snake.

She took out another piece of paper for a second letter, but hesitated. Her father had always sent letters for her in the past, so she really didn't know where to send it to.

Her rescuer didn't bother knocking, she just kind of barged in. "Hey. Mom says dinner will be ready soon. And I wanted to make sure you weren't crying and going into a dramatic monologue about the unfairness of the universe."

"Ha ha. Very funny," Gusty deadpanned as she hopped down from her chair. She winced as more pain shot through her back legs.

Boomer saw her wince, and looked at her back legs. "Ouch. Those are some nasty bruises. How'd you get hurt so bad bucking such a flimsy door? I blow those up all the time."

Gusty shrugged. "I've always gotten hurt easy."

"Hang on. I'll go snag you a healing potion from Mom's stock."

Boomer dashed off, and returned a moment later carrying a red glass bottle with an image of a foal on it. "Here. Drink this. Should get you fixed up by morning. Just try to stay off those legs."

"Thanks." Gusty swigged the bitter potion, cringing as it went down. "Ugh. I'll never get used to the taste of those." Nevertheless, the purplish spots beneath her green coat started to get a bit lighter.

"Better than having to get used to broken legs," Boomer shot back.

"True. Anyway, could you help me with something?" Gusty asked, nodding towards the letter on the desk. "I want to get a letter out to my sister, but I don't know her address."

Boomer blinked. "You have a sister? Who is she?"

"Her name's Winter," Gusty replied. "She lives with my mom, and I don't know where they live."

"Whoa, wait, Winter is your sister? So Aunt Thermal is your mom?"

"I guess you could say that. Do you know where I could mail a letter to?"

Boomer shook her head. "Nope. They stop by now and again, though. You'd have to ask Mom where they live."

Gusty's wings sagged. _I guess the letter to Winter will have to wait._

"Girls! Dinner's ready!" Daffodil called from downstairs.

"C'mon. Let's go eat before you start crying your eyes out again," Boomer teased.

That got a snorting laugh out of Gusty, and she followed Boomer downstairs.

* * *

The next day after school, Gusty and Boomer made their excuses to Daffodil, and met up with Snake.

The day had clearly not been kind to any of them. Snake had visible bags under her eyes, Gusty's legs had mostly healed, but she still had a trace of a limp, and Boomer gave everypony that they passed furtive, paranoid looks.

Gusty was somewhat skeptical when Snake promised she had a place where they could talk safely, but Boomer assured her that it was the truth.

Of course, when Snake started magically fiddling with the padlock on a rear window of the same abandoned house Boomer had shown her the day before yesterday, she took issue. "Are you serious?" she hissed.

Snake looked at her with confusion. "What? It's not _really_ haunted. At least, I don't think so."

"I'm not gonna break in!" Gusty argued.

"Relax. I know the guy who owns it. He doesn't mind. I promise when this is all over I'll prove it to you, but right now we don't have time." The lock opened with a click, and Snake pushed open the window, holding it up so Boomer could climb in before holding her hoof out to Gusty. "Come on. You promised you'd help me out."

No matter how uncomfortable she was, Gusty couldn't refuse. She could see the desperation and worry in Snake's eyes. With a sigh, she climbed through the window after Boomer.

The inside of the house was mostly unfurnished. Surprisingly little dust filled the air, as if somepony had kept the place clean, even after it was abandoned. The floorboards even looked like they'd been polished recently. "C'mon," said Snake. "I've got a setup in the den, where there aren't any windows."

The floorboards creaked eerily every time they stepped on one. Out of curiosity, Gusty tried a few of the doors. They were all locked up tight. Cold air leaked out from beneath one or two of them, sending a chill up Gusty's spine.

Snake's "setup" was a small firefly lantern in the middle of an otherwise pitch-black room. The letters and the photos from the other night came out of Snake's bag, and she tossed them on the ground next to the lantern. "Welp. We've got a spot where we can make our evil plans in peace, at least." Boomer quipped. "So now we just gotta find out who Nopony is, and I'll fill their septic tank with firecrackers."

"I don't think that'll work." Snake argued. "If we get the wrong pony, we'll be in even bigger trouble than we are already."

"Imagine how satisfying it'll be if we get the right pony though," Boomer said back. She turned to Gusty. "I don't suppose your little hero book has any useful advice on catching bad guys?"

Gusty, completely ignoring said sarcasm, pulled the book out of her saddlebag. She'd painstakingly kept it hidden all day, and was more than happy to break it out to share its wisdom. She set it on the ground and flipped to the correct page.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Boomer said as she straightened her glasses to look at the page. "I was being sarcastic! It actually does?"

"_On Evidence, Sleuthing, and Uncovering the Unknown Villain, written by CST Pure Luck," _Gusty read.

"Pure Luck?" Snake repeated. "That does not sound like a good detective's name."

Gusty shushed her, and continued reading as the three of them sat around the lamp. "_At times, the identity of a villain will not be so clear-cut. In these times that a problem cannot be solved simply by hammering it with your hooves, a hero must exercise those muscles so seldom-used by his comrades— logic, imagination, and charisma."_

"Somepony was a nerd in school," Boomer observed.

"_In any case, the first step must be to find all possible evidence," _Gusty continued. She looked over to Snake. "Was there any evidence at your house?"

Snake shook her head sadly. "Nothing that I could find. The only place I found that Nopony could've got in was my bedroom window, through the fire escape. There wasn't anything out there. I guess all we have are the pictures and the letter."

Gusty nodded dutifully, and continued reading. "_When all evidence has been found, the next task is to examine it. Even if there are many major suspects, your goal must be to find some little aspect of the evidence available that narrows your field of view. Some little clue that defines a characteristic of the villain, and eliminates the possibility of guilt for at least some of your suspects."_

"Wait!" Boomer exclaimed. "Gimme that letter!"

Confused, Snake passed the letter to Boomer. After a few seconds, she suddenly yelled, "Cookie Cream!"

Snake rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Cuddles. I thought I asked you not to call me that."

"No! Your real name!" Boomer held the letter out so that they could see. "Nopony calls you by your real name through the whole letter. I know you. You never tell _anypony _your real name unless you have to!"

Snake's eyes widened. "Hey! You're right!"

"So who does know your real name besides us?" Gusty asked.

Snake paused for a moment, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. "I can name a few ponies…"

* * *

"Why are we in a bank?" Gusty asked curiously.

"We're waiting for Dr. Maelstrom and Professor Mesmer," Snake replied.

The Coltsburg City Bank was pretty small. The single palm plant next to the door was by far the most interesting thing in the room, more lively than any of the tellers who all constantly checked their watches every two minutes as the line crawled slowly forward.

"Does Daffodil know where we are?" Gusty asked Boomer.

"I told her we'd be spending the night at Snake's house." Boomer answered. "She'll never know we didn't go straight there, as long as we get there by nightfall."

Gusty looked down. "I don't like the idea of lying to-"

_BOOM!_

"EVERYPONY ON THE GROUND! NOW!"

Without warning, the bank door exploded inwards. A pair of ponies strolled nonchalantly in. At least, Gusty thought they were ponies. Both of them were covered head to hoof, without an inch of coat showing.

The larger one was dressed in a yellow hazmat suit, covered in black armor, along with a gas mask. On his back was a glass sphere with some sort of ball of lightning inside, bouncing in all directions. The sphere was attached by a silver hose to what looked kind of like a yellow and black ray gun on his side.

The smaller was dressed slightly more normally. He wore a long, indigo cape, a purple tuxedo with an indigo bow tie, and a black ski mask that left only his eyes exposed.

Gusty screamed and threw herself to the ground, eyes wide and wings folding in an instinctual response to danger. She was scared out of her wits. The Book of Heroes had talked quite a bit about fighting brigands and thieves, but only after decades of training!

So why did everypony else look so _bored?_

There were a few sighs, lots of eye-rolling, and then the crowd all around her casually got on the floor, as if they were lounging on a warm summer's day. This included Snake and Boomer, who both looked at Gusty like _she_ was the crazy one. "You gonna be okay there, Hero?" Snake asked, chuckling playfully.

_What the hay is going on here?_

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Boomer raised a hoof, which the two robbers each hoofbumped on the way past.

As Gusty stared, slack-jawed, the yellow hazmat pony walked up to the teller's desk, raised his weapon, and placed a check onto the counter. "MY LATEST PAYCHECK! DEPOSIT IT, BANK SLAVE!"

She smiled pleasantly. "Yes, sir, Dr. Maelstrom. And is that a new death ray you're threatening me with?"

"YES! THAT'S FROM MY LAST BONUS!"

"Mine too, please," the other "robber" said as he approached one of the other tellers.

The mare smiled and blushed as she took his check and passed him a bag of bits. "You can make a deposit with me any day, Professor."

Professor Mesmer chuckled. "Sorry, Hugs. You know I'm happily married."

Gusty looked between the supervillains and the tellers. "...Am I dreaming? Is this some sort of weird nightmare?"

"I DON'T THINK I'VE SEEN THIS SMALL, WEAK FILLY BEFORE!" Maelstrom said to Mesmer. "SHE MUST BE NEW IN TOWN!"

Gusty growled and almost stood back up, but Boomer placed a hoof on her shoulder and kept her down. "Easy there, Gusty. This is normal."

"How is this _normal?!"_

"Dr. Maelstrom and Professor Mesmer do this twice a month so they don't have to wait in line to deposit their checks. I can't blame 'em. Bank lines can be brutal."

That did remarkably little to explain the situation. "Wait, so everypony just... _knows_ these guys?"

"Oh yeah," Snake said. "Maelstrom works up in lightning production and Mesmer is a professional hypnotist. I think Boomer saw him just a couple months ago."

She nodded. "Didn't work though. I feel no less desire to blow things up indiscriminately."

"AH, SNAKE EYES!" Maelstrom greeted. "IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN! WILL YOUR MOTHER BE CONTRIBUTING TO THE COMMUNITY BAKE SALE THIS MONTH?"

"Hey Doc," Snake said with a friendly wave. "We're not sure yet. She's been pretty sick lately. Do you guys got a second to spare? We were waiting here to talk to you."

The two crooks looked between each other, then back at Snake, suddenly looking a lot less evil. "Of course. Let's step outside. Our business is done here," Mesmer replied.

Gusty stood up, now feeling like a doofus for actually staying on the floor during a bank robbery. "Yeah, sure, let's just have a friendly chat with a pair of criminals. I don't see how that could _possibly_ be a bad idea."

Boomer smirked. "You're not exactly one to talk, you know."

Choosing to ignore that, Gusty followed her friends and not-quite-foes outside.

The two supervillains looked genuinely appalled when they heard what happened to Snake. "I AM VERY SORRY YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS, SNAKE!" Maelstrom's goggles almost seemed to have a sad expression on them. "I WILL REMAIN VIGILANT FOR THIS... NOPONY! HE WILL FEEL THE WRATH OF NATURE!"

Snake patted his leg. "Thanks, Doc. That means a lot. But that's not actually why we wanted to talk to you two."

"You guys were some of the only ones who knew Snake's real name, like Nopony did!" Gusty accused, stepping forward with her wings flared aggressively.

"Now calm down, miss," Mesmer said, far _too_ calm for her liking. "It's true that not all of our actions are entirely 'legal' or 'ethical' or 'morally sound'..." He actually did air quotes for each one. "But we would never do anything to hurt Snake Eyes, or most other ponies for that matter."

"A likely story!" She took a step closer until she was right in his face. "How do I know you're not just trying to cover your flanks?!"

Mesmer quickly whipped out a pocket watch and waved it in front of her. "Because you are feeling very sleepy."

"I don't see the connection he—" Gusty trailed off as she abruptly passed out.

* * *

Gusty awoke from her involuntary nap with a peaceful yawn. She actually felt calm and relaxed.

_BOOOOM!_

_Not again!_

A clap of thunder nearly deafened her as a massive lightning bolt arced into the air. "BE STILL, SNOWMARE! I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Maelstrom bellowed as he fired his lightning cannon wildly.

Up above, zipping around on a road of ice continuously forming in front of her from some kind of freeze ray, was the parka-wearing superhero from the market.

"Chill out, Doc! You're gonna go into shock," Snowmare warned in a voice muffled by her gas mask.

"She showed up when you passed out," Professor Mesmer explained.

Gusty looked around. The two of them were sitting on a bench in a small park next to the bank, while Maelstrom and Snowmare fought in the street. "What happened?" she asked in confusion. "The last thing I remember was following you two out of the bank."

"You accused Maelstrom and I of possibly being responsible for Snake's situation, rather aggressively I might add. So I had to put you out for… oh, around ten minutes or so. Snowmare came by, got the wrong idea, and… here we are." He gestured back up into the sky, watching the blasts of ice and lightning collide as if they were fireworks. He even brought popcorn, which he gladly shared with other curious onlookers.

Gusty narrowed her eyes. "Knocking me out because I accused you doesn't exactly speak to your innocence."

"Then how about this? During the time of the incident Miss Eyes described to me, I was at home with my family, while Maelstrom was in jail. I bailed him out myself this morning. Both alibis are easily verifiable." There was a loud, impassioned "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and Dr. Maelstrom was thrown into the ground, literally frozen in shock. Mesmer shook his head and tut-tutted. "And now it appears he will need to be bailed out again."

"He explained the whole thing to us while you were out," Snake added, tossing a red ball back and forth with Boomer nearby, which promptly exploded as it touched Boomer's hooves.

Boomer looked at her hooves irritably. "I knew I should have washed up after chemistry class..." she muttered.

Snowmare dropped from the sky, using a blast of freezing air to slow her descent. "Hey there, little dudes!" she greeted. "Sorry if these two were giving you trouble. Any of you get hurt?"

"I'm fine," Gusty said. "But I'm still not convinced that Professor Mesmer here is-HEY!" She found the bench next to her suddenly empty and spotted Mesmer booking it in the distance.

"Relax, Hero, I really don't think either of them did it," Snake assured her. "It isn't really their MO anyway."

"No idea what you're talking about, but probably true," Snowmare agreed. "And if it isn't, I will be sure to get the truth out of the good doctor in prison!" She looked pointedly over at the still-frozen and much quieter Dr. Maelstrom. Gusty actually felt a little sorry for him now.

"Anyway, what are you little tykes doing hanging around with supervillains?" Snowmare asked curiously. "Don't ya know that's dangerous?"

"I don't think hanging out with you is much safer," Boomer muttered under her breath.

Thinking back to Daffodil's words yesterday morning, Gusty very much agreed.

It was Snake, however, who spoke up. "Oh, we weren't doing much. We were just at the bank and happened to run into them. All we were doing is talking about the bake sale. Say, you wouldn't happen to know where a colt named Nutshell is? We've been looking for him."

Gusty wondered for just a second why she wasn't bringing up the blackmail issue to an actual (alleged) superhero, but the next second she decided it probably wasn't a good idea either. After all, Snowmare didn't have an alibi, and none of them knew who she was. Also, she seemed a little...unhinged.

"Ah, you mean that young stallion I valiantly rescued from the marketplace yesterday morning?" Gusty's eyes widened. _That_ was Nutshell? "He's been taken to the hospital to recover, but I'm afraid visiting hours are over, little dudes. You're gonna have to wait."

Boomer said a very creative curse word that Gusty desperately hoped she'd never repeat around her mother. "That means we won't be able to see him until tonight!"

"That's alright," Snake soothed. "We've still got one other pony on the list before him."

* * *

"So who's next?" Gusty asked on the way to their next suspect.

"Amber Glow," Snake explained as the three of them stood outside what looked like a very expensive suburban neighborhood. "The first pony I ever tried to steal from. Long story short, I failed utterly. I was ten years old at the time, so when she caught me she let me go out of pity. I… sorta cried a lot."

They were forced to stand outside because the entire thing was surrounded by a tall brick wall, with only a single wrought-iron gate allowing anypony in. A sign just outside the gate dubbed the place Goose Nest Estates.

Undeterred, Gusty flew over the wall and pressed the unattended button to open the gate. "Nice job, Hero," said Snake with a grin.

"It's not much of an accomplishment when they barely guard the place," she said, shrugging as she let them through.

The three of them followed Snake through the neighborhood. They stood out like a sore hoof for one particular reason; Boomer utterly and completely refused to take off the shiny silver hat she'd produced as soon as they'd started in this direction. "She's got a special talent for making ponies talk!" Boomer insisted. "I am _not_ gonna let her in my head. You two are gonna regret not taking the tinfoil hats I offered you."

Snake rolled her eyes. "She just has a talent for getting ponies to open up to her," she explained to Gusty. "It's not mind control, like Boomer claims."

"She just wants you to _think _it's not mind control!"

She lead them down the street to a particular house towards the end of the street, and rang the doorbell. "We don't want to get Amber in trouble," Snake whispered. "So our cover story is that we're introducing Gusty to some folks around town to help her make friends."

"Couldn't we just ask to talk to-" Gusty began.

"Just a second!" came a mare's voice from inside.

The door opened, revealing a pegasus mare with a pink coat and an elegant, wavy mane of alternating purple and pink stripes. Hiding behind her legs was a very young colt with a purple dappled coat and green mane. "Oh! Hello. How can I help you three?" She gave Boomer a quizzical look at her choice of headwear, but didn't comment.

"Hello, ma'am!" Snake greeted. "I'm a friend of Amber's. Gusty here–" Gusty gave a nervous smile and a wave. "–is new in town. So we're trying to help her out with making friends."

Gusty kept up her smile, hoping it didn't look fake. _We are so busted. Boomer looks crazy and Snake is lying through her teeth. She's gonna call Aunt Daffodil and we are all gonna be in huge trouble._

"Oh! That's wonderful!" The mare turned and called over her shoulder. "Amber, dear! Some of your friends are here!"

"Coming, Mom!"

Amber appeared at the top of the stairs. She was a pegasus like her mother, with the same long, wavy mane, though hers was light brown. She looked to be a year or two older than the three of them. Her coat was a dark brown, speckled with lighter brown spots. "Oh hey, Cookie! What are you doing here?"

Suddenly much of Snake's bravado was gone. Gusty found herself pushed forward to the front of the group. She started to sweat in terror as she fumbled for words. "Uh... Hi. I'm Gusty. I'm new in town. Sn-uh, Cookie said she knew you, so she said it might be a good idea to make friends with you."

Amber must have noticed Gusty's very obvious nerves, and threw her a lifeline. "Oh cool. Come on up. We can talk in my room."

Gusty breathed a sigh of relief as she followed. Snake cast a glance into the kitchen as she passed, to make sure Amber's mother and brother weren't going to try and eavesdrop. Boomer attempted to stand her ground outside, but was surrounded by Snake's dark blue magic, and telekinetically carried up the stairs.

Amber took the three of them upstairs to her room. Boomer, still in her tinfoil hat, hid behind Gusty. Snake trailed behind them both, looking depressed.

Amber's room was fairly standard for a teenager. Covered in posters and pictures of various places. "So what's this about, Cookie?" Amber asked once she'd shut the door behind them. "You look like you've been through Tartarus."

"Something like that..." Snake answered, being intentionally vague. "You could say I'm having _financial _troubles at the moment. But that's _nopony's_ business. I don't suppose you could _help us out _with that?"

Boomer facehoofed. Sly, Snake could be. Subtle, not so much. "I think what she means to say is–"

"She's being blackmailed!" Gusty suddenly yelled, almost tearfully. "Snake's one of the only friends I had since I came here and now she's being threatened by somepony who knows that she steals things, but only because she's trying to support her ailing mother, and now she can't pay up, and now they're both in trouble, so we're trying to save her!"

Gusty panted, staring around the room at the shocked faces surrounding her. "I...have no idea why I did that."

"I told you to keep the hat," Boomer said, shaking her head.

"No worries. That tends to happen around me," Amber replied. "But why'd you three come here? I don't exactly have a lot of bits on me."

"We managed to figure out that whoever left the letter knew Snake's real name," Gusty explained. "And you're one of those."

"Soooo first you try to rob my house, then you want to accuse me of blackmail?" Amber asked Snake in an offended tone.

"Nonono!" Gusty stepped between them, waving her hooves frantically. "We're going to everypony it could've possibly been! We're not accusing you of anything!"

Snake and Boomer looked at Gusty like she'd just grown a second head.

"Hate to tell you, Gusty, but I didn't do it." Amber sat on her bed, actually looking troubled. "I've been crazy busy with schoolwork for the last two weeks, so I've headed straight home after school every day, and my mom can tell you that I haven't left."

"Another rock-solid alibi," Boomer said, and Gusty wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not. "Well, I didn't suspect you from the beginning anyway." Both Gusty and Boomer raised an eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, we're quickly running out of leads," Gusty said. "After you, we've got Nutshell, and he's looking a bit iffy too since he's apparently in the hospital right now. Just...any help you could provide at all would be appreciated." And if they ever caught Nopony, at least they had somepony who could get them to confess easily enough.

Amber shrugged. "I'm sorry. I wish I could help you, but I can't."

Gusty sighed, walking over to look out the back window. It was quite a lovely night. Not a cloud in the sky.

"We've still got the school staff on the list," Snake pointed out.

"Amber dear!" Amber's mom called from downstairs. "Could you come down and help me please?"

"Coming, Mom!" Amber shouted back. "Hang on, I'll be right back," she told the three of them as she left.

Literally seconds later, Gusty saw the window suddenly start to slide open.

She looked over at Boomer, and then at Snake, all three sharing the same stunned expression: _Yeah, I see it too. _

The window opened, and the three of them came face-to-face, or face-to-mask, at least, with Nopony.

It was difficult to tell whether Nopony was a mare or a stallion beneath their thick brown trench coat, low-brim hat, and black balaclava. Even their eyes were covered by sunglasses.

There was an awkward silence as the three fillies stared at the intruder, and the intruder stared back, none of them really sure what to do next. Then Gusty took a step forward, unfurled her wings, and kicked off the ground, rushing straight for them before her friends could stop her.

Nopony ducked and Gusty emerged out of the window into the early evening air. She looked down to see that Nopony had already rushed across the back yard, and was climbing over the fence into the next yard. She narrowed her eyes and her focus, shooting herself after them. Nopony had just cleared the fence when Gusty came literally charging right through it in pursuit.

Unfortunately, her aim was a little off and she only just stopped herself from plowing into the wall of the neighbor's house. She smiled nervously as an old mare glared at her from the window, then turned back to see Nopony slipping through the front gate and into the street. Charging after them again, Gusty slammed the partially open gate out of the way, causing it to slam loudly against the fence behind it.

Nopony was incredibly quick. They were already far down the road. They threw a trash can into her path and turned a corner down the street, Gusty hot on their hooves. As she leapt the can and turned the corner as well, a bright flash momentarily blinded Gusty. When her vision returned to normal, Nopony had lifted a ponyhole cover and ducked into the sewer.

She gave a frustrated growl. "Get back here!" she snapped as she chased them down. Even she wasn't foalish enough to try to charge through a plate of metal, so Gusty had to actually take the cover off like a normal pony and toss it aside before jumping down into the sewer.

Her hooves landed in a river of sewage, making her shudder with disgust, but it wasn't enough to distract her. She looked around, having to squint to see in the dim lighting provided by the opening above. If it was dark for _her_, then Nopony and their shades should be practically blind. Nevertheless, she soon heard rapid splashes trailing off in one direction and flew after them.

Flying in a sewer was not easy, and chasing somepony through one was even harder, with all the twists, turns, and intersections. Gusty was becoming increasingly worried about losing Nopony, when she spotted them clambering up a ladder. Her next charge was so close to catching Nopony, when another bright flash stunned her. Down in the dark it was even worse. She was almost completely blind as she felt her way up the ladder.

When you got used to flying everywhere, it was almost embarrassing having to use something as mundane as a ladder, but Gusty did what she had to do. As her eyes slowly adjusted, she finally made it to the top and shoved open the ponyhole cover, only to yelp and quickly duck back in as a carriage barreled over the street on top of her. Gusty climbed out and searched frantically for any sign of Nopony, only to realize that they were riding atop that very carriage.

"This is just getting silly now." Gusty spread her wings and took off into the sky, flying above the traffic. As she zeroed in on Nopony, she shot down at them in a dive bomb maneuver, but they thought fast and leapt to another carriage before she hit them. Gusty pulled up just in time, only scraping the tips of her hooves on the rooftop before she reoriented herself.

As Nopony rode away in the opposite direction, Gusty attempted another dive, which they also dodged, jumping to a different carriage. This went back and forth for some time along the same stretch of road, Nopony changing direction with each jump. But sooner or later, they ran out of rooftops, looking back and forth nervously. "Now I've got you!" Gusty charged in, only to reel back from a flash to the eyes. She squinted to see Nopony quickly widening the gap again.

Gusty felt a very familiar boiling in her gut. Before, she'd always restrained it. But now, she welcomed it. Her breathing got quicker, and her wings unfurled. She charged straight for them again, now at a much faster speed.

Nopony was completely caught off guard as Gusty slammed into them, knocking them off the roof of the carriage and sending the two of them tumbling to the street. Nopony was barely able to shove Gusty off before the snarling filly was after them managed to dodge to the side as the mare charged them, but to their shock, Gusty immediately whirled around and rebounded back into them, again sending Nopony skidding across the street. Gusty dragged her hoof across the road and snorted before rushing in for what she thought would be the finishing blow.

A loud neigh and a screech came from her right as she found herself unwittingly in the path of another carriage. The driver did his best to swerve to the right and avoid her, but this only resulted in her being sidelined by the blunt edge of the carriage as it swung around from the momentum.

Gusty was thrown back and hit the ground before her wings could help her.

The impact shot pain through her whole body and nearly incapacitated the pegasus as the sudden rush of energy began to fade away. As it did, Gusty slowly staggered back onto her hooves and again caught sight of Nopony. They too needed a moment to recover and were only now rushing for the brick wall that surrounded the community.

Gusty bared her teeth, her nostrils flaring. Nopony would. Not. Escape.

Nopony tried to go over the wall. Gusty wasn't sure exactly what happened next. One minute she was rushing towards the wall, the next she was on the other side of it, white light once again blinding her. Her momentum carried her forward, and she slammed into something very, very hard.

Even before Gusty finished peeling herself off of the tree, she knew something was wrong. She couldn't quite feel the pain yet, but judging by the unnatural way her two front legs were bent, she knew it was coming. Even so, she wasn't quite proficient in knowing when to quit and tried to get up anyway just using her wings. Even that hurt fiercely, but Gusty kept herself hovering slowly and awkwardly in the direction Nopony had retreated, determined beyond all doubt to catch them. Out here, they should at least be easy to spot.

She cleared a group of trees and that last hope was mercilessly shattered. She had forgotten that on the other side of this wall was a park. A public park. Full of public park ponies. And laying on the ground in front of her was Nopony's coat, hat, shades, and balaclava. Nopony could be anypony.

Gusty sighed in defeat and finally let herself collapse, slipping away into blackness.


	4. Chapter 4: Where Fillies Fear to Tread

**Chapter 4: Where Fillies Fear to Tread**

Snake Eyes hated the hospital.

It was the most modern building in Coltsburg, but that only served to give it even more of an air of creepy sadness. The sterile white walls, combined with the little health pamphlets and motivational posters, and the eerie and awkward silence of the waiting room just screamed, 'Hey, ponies sometimes die here!'

The fact that her new friend was currently out cold somewhere in here didn't help either.

Boomer came back into the waiting room from the little alcove with a bunch of payphones. "Just called my mom. She's on her way."

"How bad is she freaking out?" Snake asked worriedly. _I really hope Gusty doesn't end up getting in trouble for this. It wasn't even her fault._

"Pretty bad," Boomer replied. "I didn't tell her about Nopony and the blackmail. I think it's best we just tell everypony that somepony in a mask had tried to break in, and Gusty went after them."

Had they not been alone in the waiting room, Snake would have been more nervous about discussing the Nopony situation openly. "That's good, at least." She sighed, psyching herself up. _Walls up, filly. You can crack when you get home. _She smirked at Boomer. "You girls are the best friends I can ask for."

Boomer nodded, climbing up into the seat next to her. "What was she thinking, going after Nopony alone like that?" she asked in a low, tired voice. "Ramming into a tree is the least of the things that could've happened to her."

Amber came back into the room as well. "Dad's stuck at work, and Mom is talking to the police," she explained.

"Alright. Hopefully, they'll be able to catch them," Snake said, only partially-meaning it. On the one hoof, it would be pretty convenient if the police actually caught Nopony for them. On the other hoof, she didn't particularly trust anypony other than them to do so. Nor did she trust the police in general, but that was a different story.

"They find anything so far?" Boomer asked. "Evidence? Witnesses?"

_How hard is this going to be to lie about?_ Snake mentally translated.

Amber shrugged. "Not much. Just what you guys told me so far. Some masked burglar tried to break in, Gusty chased them off and got hurt in the process. Are you sure that's all that happened?"

"We're sure," Snake and Boomer said in unison, having gone over their story perhaps a bit _too_ well.

Amber shuddered a bit. "I can't believe somepony just climbed in my window like that. Imagine if I'd been home alone!"

Snake's heart went out to her. She knew how that felt. _Imagine if I'd been in my room when Nopony came in. Somehow I doubt they'd offer me flowers and candy. _Her mind also went to the envelope that Nopony had tossed on the floor. The one she'd scooped up and put in her saddlebag before anypony else could notice it. _That's gonna be some hard news to break._

On the bright side, she got to give Amber a comforting hug. Which made her heart beat a little faster and at least brought a smile to her face.

"I'll be okay," Amber said, patting her on the back reassuringly. "Thanks for that though. You can bet I'll be double-checking that all of my windows are locked from now on."

"And your doors. And your closet. And your pantry," Snake advised, smirking.

She laughed. "If there's ever an intruder in my pantry, you'll be the first one I suspect."

A nurse cleared her throat. _How long has she been standing there?_ "Please, come with me. Your friend just woke up."

Snake perked up. "Gusty? Is she okay?"

"She's got two broken front legs," the nurse replied. "The breaks weren't widespread. So we can safely dose her with enough healing solution to get her back on her hooves in a day or two. But she'll be pretty stiff and sore for a week or two."

Snake winced. _There goes the muscle of the group_. She felt a hard pang of guilt for drawing Gusty into this. _Though she probably would've insisted either way, from what I've seen._

They followed the nurse into the room, where Gusty looked about as terrible as expected, but also just as stubbornly upbeat. "H-Hey, guys. Good to see you."

Snake refrained from hugging Gusty as well, thinking that it wouldn't be a good idea. "Welcome back, Hero. How are you feeling?"

"Could be worse, I guess. Not exactly 100% either."

"I'll say," Boomer snorted.

"I'll leave you alone for a bit," the nurse said with a smile.

"Okay, thanks," Snake said, smiling back at her up until the moment she left the room. After which, she immediately closed the door and "accidentally" placed a sealing spell on it. Nothing particularly powerful, given her age, but just strong enough to jam the door for a few precious seconds should somepony try to walk in on them. Satisfied, she turned back towards the rest. "Alright, everypony. There's something we need to take a look at."

Snake pulled Nopony's envelope out of her typical hiding place for stolen goods, the fluff of her tail. "Remember how we said I got blackmailed? The creep in the mask tossed this down on the floor before they ran for it. It looks like the same envelope that I got."

Amber's eyes widened. "You're kidding me! You hid this from me!?"

"She's being blackmailed too," Boomer reminded. "If she talked, Nopony would sell her out."

"Wait, you mean _somepony?"_ Amber asked in confusion.

"Nopony," Boomer corrected. "It's what they go by. _We_ sure didn't come up with it."

"Anyway, that's why I couldn't talk to you about this," Snake said apologetically.

Amber sighed. "Okay...I understand. Then you think this 'Nopony' was trying to blackmail me as well?" She looked uneasily down at the envelope in Snake's hooves.

"Yeah. Do you want to read this by yourself? I understand if…"

"No," Amber said, shaking her head. "We're all in this together now. Keeping secrets is just what Nopony wants. Open it."

Snake opened the envelope. She pulled out the letter first.

"_Dear Miss Glow," _she read. "_I hope this letter finds you in good health. As I'm sure you know, you often tell your parents that you attend an after school study group. As you can see from the contents included with this letter, I have obtained proof that this is very much not the case. What you and…"_ Snake paused in confusion at the next few words, "_Miss Swab do in your own time is your business and I've nothing against it. But I'm keenly aware that your parents DO in fact have something against it. As it would result in an inquiry as to the nature of this blackmail, you will not go to the police. You have one week to deliver one thousand bits to the construction site off Hayseed Street. If the bits are not in place by midnight exactly one week from the time you read this letter, copies of these photos will find their way to your parents. Until then, I bid you good evening, and I look forward to receiving your payment."_

_Sincerely yours, _

_Nopony._

All of the color had drained from Amber's face. "Give me that!" She practically snatched the envelope with the photos away from Snake Eyes in panic. She ripped the photos out of the envelope, and Snake leaned over to look at them. Her eyes widened, and her cheeks went red at what she saw.

Amber hugging, snuggling, and holding hooves with Cotton Swab, another filly from her class, in various places.

"You're the one who told her to open it," Boomer said bluntly. "Right, Snake?"

"Yeah…" Snake said glumly, not as amused by this as she normally would be. _Why do I feel so...numb?_

"Nononononono!" Amber muttered, her hooves shaking as she held the pictures. "My parents will kill me if they find out!"

"Alright...that's pretty bad," Gusty admitted. "But we're going to catch Nopony before that deadline. We were going to before, and as far as I see it, we've only got more incentive now!" She tried to pump a hoof for emphasis, but groaned in pain and had to lay back down. "Just...might need a bit more rest first."

"Gimme the envelope," Snake offered. "I can hide it in my tail like before." _Along with hiding my broken heart..._

No sooner had Snake stashed the letter away, Snake felt the block she'd placed on the door shatter, and with the strength only a concerned guardian could muster, Daffodil burst into the room. She was actually flying, and one of the smaller nurses appeared to be trying to cling to her tail to slow her down. Her hug first caught Boomer, who was standing near the door, then moved forward like a bulldozer to catch Gusty too.

"Uh... You three look like you could use some time alone," Amber observed, seemingly having collected herself. "Snake, why don't you and I go find the vending machines and get some snacks?"

"I think that's a good idea." _Daffodil probably doesn't want me around anyway._

The two of them left the room. Despite her earlier heartbreak, Snake couldn't help going all moony-eyed when she was alone with Amber. So much so that she actually ran into somepony as they were walking. "Whoops! Sorry bout tha—!" She looked up at who she'd run into, and cut off. "Mr. Wonderbread? What're you doing here?"

Wonderbread turned around in surprise. "Oh. Hello there, Miss Eyes. How are you?"

When her befuddlement at seeing him wore off, she managed to reply. "I'm alright I guess. My friend's in the hospital, so—"

"What are you doing here!?"

_No. She can't be here. The universe doesn't hate me THAT much. _

The universe did indeed hate her that much, as Pepper Spray herself came marching over with her typical scowl and glare. "Out of all the places, you're stalking around a Celestia damned HOSPITAL!?"

"Language," Wonderbread warned dully.

"I'm off hours! I'll talk however I want."

Amber's head jerked between them, eyes scrunched in confusion. "Hey, take it easy! A friend of ours got roughed up. She's with family right now, so we're giving her some space."

"Stay out of this!" Pepper snapped.

"Why don't _you _stay out of it!" Amber retorted, wings flaring angrily. "Like you said, you're off hours! What business is it of yours why we're here?"

Snake had never seen Pepper get so red in the face. She was as red as Boomer and looked about as prepped to explode. _Please. Take my heart. Just take it. _Snake willed to Amber, endlessly happy to see somepony stand up to Pepper.

Then Wonderbread whispered something in her ear. She took a deep breath, and her face returned to its normal color. "You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go see my son."

Snake's jaw dropped as Pepper left without even bothering to pettily bump into her on the way past.

"Sorry about that," said Wonderbread. "She's got some issues. I'm here to see my kid, too. He got hurt pretty bad in that accident in the market the other day. The one with that superhero."

"Nutshell is your kid?" Snake could not believe she'd gone this long without knowing that. "Is he okay?"

"As good as he can be, I guess," Wonderbread replied. "Lots of broken ribs and torn muscles, a nasty concussion. It's gonna take some time for him to get back to normal."

Snake winced. "Ah jeez. I'm sorry to hear. I hope he feels better." _That's one name off the Nopony list at least._

The snack machine Wonderbread was standing in front of whirred and clunked, but no snack fell out. Wonderbread frowned. "Oh. I think it's jammed."

"Ouch. Want to borrow a few bits? I've got some extra," Snake offered.

He shook his head. "No, thank you. I think I had better just go home." He sighed. "I'll see you in class, Snake Eyes."

The two of them watched him slowly saunter off.

_Poor guy. Maybe I'll buy him an apple or something before class tomorrow._

"Hey! You two!"

They turned to see Boomer trotting down the hall towards them. "Mom's got a surprise for you. She wants you to come back to Gusty's room so she can tell you."

"Daffodil's got a surprise for me?" Snake faux gasped. "She's not gonna lock me up in her secret lab, is she?"

Boomer rolled her eyes, but kept her smile. "Nah. She's just grateful a certain pair of ponies found Gusty and got her to the hospital so quick, and wants to reward them."

Amber frowned. "But wait, all three of us tracked her down."

"And the trail of gawkers wasn't exactly hard to follow," Snake added.

Boomer innocently examined one of her front hooves, but couldn't help smirking a little. "Whaaaaat? Nooooo! You guys practically saved her!"

_Well, it isn't like we're not_ already _lying to her._ It was pretty easy to justify it to herself when she thought of it that way.

As they headed back to the room, Boomer explained what the doctor had told them. "Both of her front legs were dislocated, along with several fractures. Thankfully, the fractures were minor enough that a few healing potions were able to heal them overnight, so she can head back home with Mom and I."

"_Minor?!" _Snake realized she was raising her voice too much and hastily lowered it to a sharp whisper. "Her legs were at the complete wrong angle! The nurse said it'd be at least a day!"

"I know, I know, it's weird," Boomer admitted. "Healing potions can do crazy things, but you only really have to have an extended stay if enough stuff gets messed up that the amount needed would overdose you. At least, that's what Mom says. Anyway, are we gonna go in or what?"

Snake and Amber looked between each other uneasily, but nodded in agreement as they entered the room.

Daffodil looked up from a conversation with a nurse when they arrived. "Ah! Just who I was hoping to see!" Despite saying that, Snake could tell she was a little strained as she continued. "I admit, I may have misjudged you, Snake Eyes. Boomer tells me you've been doing your utmost to help Gusty since you two became friends, even introducing her to some of your own to help her get acclimated."

Now it was Gusty who looked uncomfortable, though Boomer beamed her biggest, toothiest salesmare smile to cover it up. "That's right! I told you she and Snake being friends was an awesome idea!"

"That you did," Daffodil admitted.

"It wasn't a big deal," Snake replied. "Gusty's cool, once you get to know her a little." She shot Gusty a wink that got a small smile out of her.

"While that may be the case," Daffodil continued. "Boomer also tells me you and your friend here were able to find where that ne'er-do-well had lead Gusty, and quickly get her to the hospital. I can't thank you enough for making sure she's safe, but I feel I have to at least offer something to repay you."

Had Snake been more of an ideal hero, she probably would have responded with something like, "No reward is necessary, ma'am. I was just doing my duty." But since she was still Snake Eyes, she instead replied, "And what would that be?"

"I would like to invite you to dinner!" she said brightly. She must have noticed the look on her face, because her own quickly fell. "Is something wrong?"

Boomer nudged her and Snake perked right up again. "Uh, no, that sounds great, Miss Daffodil! Thanks a bunch!" _A thousand bits would've been nice though._

"Yes, thank you!" Amber agreed, bowing her head politely.

"Excellent!" Daffodil agreed, her grin returning. "You're Wisteria's daughter, are you not?" she said to Amber.

"Yeah," Amber confirmed. "I'll have to call her to tell her where I'm going."

Daffodil waved a hoof in dismissal. "No need. I'll call her myself. We're in the same book club."

Amber blinked in surprise. "Oh. Huh. I never knew you two knew each other."

Snake knew why she was surprised. Daffodil had a bit of a reputation in town.

With the arrangements made, it didn't take long to get Gusty signed out and wheel her out of the hospital. She tried to argue that she could still fly, but Daffodil insisted she'd carry her on her back, at least on the way home.

Noticing Amber was falling behind a bit, Snake dropped back and bumped her playfully. "Hey, why so nervous?"

Amber chuckled. "Is it that obvious? I mean, it's not every day I get invited to the house of a local mad scientist. It's awesome, but still a little scary."

"Don't worry about it. As long as you stay on your best behavior, she'll only experiment on you a _little bit." _

Boomer, having expected as much, promptly fell back and nudged her again. "Cut it out. Mom's not going to experiment on anypony. And if she was, Snake should be a lot more concerned about bad behavior than you."

She shrugged. "True."

"Are you three alright back there?" Daffodil called out. "Do you need me to slow down?"

It would be pretty sad if they did with her carrying her limp niece. "No, ma'am! It's okay!" Amber answered back, perhaps too quickly.

Snake smirked. _I've still got it._ Knowing she could still get under Amber's skin was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

* * *

It would have been quicker to cut through the backstreets to get back to Daffodil's house, but with the sun getting low in the sky, they were forced to take a longer route.

Snake felt weirder than usual being in Daffodil's house, purely because Daffodil actually knew she was there this time. Most of her previous visits had been via the drain pipe outside Boomer's window.

But good ol' Gruesome Gaze never failed to cheer her up. "Hello, Miss Eyes," he greeted coldly as soon as she stepped in the front door.

"Heeeey, Goose!" Snake replied. "Nice to see you again! How ya been?"

"I haven't had to deal with any impromptu raids of my mistress' pantry, if that's what you mean."

"Awesome! Must have been some nasty rats you guys had," Snake said without missing a beat.

"Yes. I've set traps. I dearly hope they catch those rats doing something untoward," he replied unsubtly.

_Ah, good ol' Goosey. No worries. I'll be on my best behavior._ "Well, good luck! Rats can be pretty tricky."

The servant snorted and turned away, knowing a lost cause when he saw one.

Soon, they were all situated around the table in the dining room, being treated to a meal of rye bread, an exotic fruit salad, and tomato soup. Not the most conventional dinner, but Daffodil wasn't the most conventional pony. "Ah ah. That one's for Gusty," the mare said as Snake attempted to snatch a bowl of soup from Tall Order's tray. She rolled her eyes at the formalities as Tall gave Gusty "her" bowl and then gave another to Snake. She took a sip. _Have to admit, it _is _good though._

"Thank you, Aunt Daffodil," Gusty said, still jittering a bit as she sipped at her soup as well. It had been a rough day, to be sure, but Snake was relieved to see her finally starting to relax after a while as they ate and chatted.

Now Snake could use some TLC of her own. "Um...excuse me? May I have some alone time with Boomer?"

Gusty and Amber both raised an eyebrow, but Daffodil smiled knowingly and nodded. "Of course. Take as much time as you need."

Gruesome stepped in. "Mistress, are you sure about—?"

"Yes, Gruesome," she said, cutting him off. "I know Boomer wouldn't do anything wrong and I trust her to support her friend."

"Thanks," Boomer said, stepping away from the table and leaving the room with Snake while their curious friends watched them go.

As soon as they stepped into the other room, Boomer knowingly sat down in the middle of the room, opening her arms. It only took a second for Snake to collapse into the hug and start crying. "It's okay," Boomer promised quietly.

Snake just nuzzled into Boomer's chest and let all her troubles leak out of her eyes for a few minutes. The Nopony letter had pushed her almost to the brink of the stress she could handle. Seeing Gusty crumpled on the ground and knowing it was her fault had shoved her right off the edge, but she'd kept on trucking, like she always did. She'd come close to collapse at home, but hadn't wanted to stress out her mom. But now that she had a moment's peace, she wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry while Boomer patted the back of her head comfortingly.

"So _that's _why she calls you Cuddles."

Snake shot up like a dart, hastily wiping the tears from her eyes, but Gusty raised a hoof. "Hey, it's alright. I'm not judging. Everypony needs a shoulder to cry on once in a while."

"You should know," Boomer said slyly.

She blushed. "Yes...I do. I'll just leave you to it then. I could use some alone time myself." Gusty turned and headed back up to her room.

Snake looked up at Boomer as she stared off in Gusty's direction. "You wanna go after her, don't you?"

"My services are needed elsewhere," she confirmed.

"Eh, I was about done anyway."

They caught up to Gusty right outside her open door. Her mouth was agape, and she had a haunted look in her eyes. She took several steps back and pointed one cast-clad leg wordlessly into the room.

Confused, Snake looked to where she was pointing, and soon shared her expression.

Sitting on her bed was a yellow envelope.

"No!" Boomer whispered.

Snake pushed them both into the room before they could argue. "Okay. Crybaby moments are over. Another letter means more evidence we can use to bust Nopony. According to your book, more evidence is good, right Gusty?"

Gusty shook herself out of her stupor. "Y-yeah. That's right."

"I'll go downstairs and see if I can get Amber up here, and arrange a little distraction for Daffy-Daff and the Funky Bunch," Snake offered. "Take the letter to Boomer's room and close the door."

"Right," Gusty said, knowing better than to argue under these circumstances.

As Snake headed back downstairs, Amber was just finishing up dinner. "Well, finally! For a second there, I thought I was going to be the only pony who actually bothered to finish eating."

"Yeah, about that," Snake whispered. "We have a problem. Gusty got a letter."

Her eyes widened and she almost choked on a piece of rye bread. "Are you alright?" Daffodil asked in concern.

"I-I am. No worries." Then she turned and whispered back to Snake. "_What?"_

"Yeah. So here's the deal: I need you to distract everypony while we dissect this thing. Ask Daffodil about anything in her trophy room. Trust me, that'll keep her going for hours."

"Alright…" she said uneasily. "But you better fill me in later." With that, she cleared her throat and stood up. "Excuse me, Miss Daffodil? I was hoping you could show me around the place a bit. I bet you've got some cool stuff here. Especially in, say, your trophy room?"

Daffodil brightened right up. "But of course! Snake, watch over Boomer and Gusty for me. I'll be back soon."

_She won't be back soon. _Snake agreed anyway and waved her off, ignoring Gruesome's suspicious glare as she headed back upstairs.

Gusty and Boomer were waiting for her when she returned. "Alright. We all ready?" Snake asked.

"Yup!" Boomer held the envelope up. "Let's see what Nopony has to say."

Gusty reluctantly allowed Snake to pull out the contents of the envelope. There were only two photos inside; one of her standing atop a carriage and shielding her eyes, and one of her with an incredibly angry expression, bricks flying everywhere as she seemingly flew right through a brick wall, barely stopping. "Jeez! How the heck did that happen?" Snake exclaimed.

Gusty blushed. "I had one of my anger blackouts. I can do some damage when that happens."

"Gusty, that's a _brick wall. _You smashed through it like it was wood." Boomer shook her head, mystified. "I guess you really are the muscle of the group."

"Also explains why you got hurt so bad," Snake observed. "That'll do some damage no matter how hard you hit it. We thought Nopony had slammed you through the park wall or something. But it looks like you made that big hole yourself."

Gusty looked down and away, avoiding eye contact. "Let's just look at the stupid letter," she muttered.

Snake obeyed, unfolding the piece of paper contained with the photos.

_Dear Miss Breeze,_

_I am aware that this letter likely finds you in poor health, and that is unfortunate. To avoid causing you undo agony, I'll get straight to the point. These two photos show you committing unlawful trespassing and destruction of public property. I am aware of your circumstances, and so I do not ask for any bits from you. Instead, I only ask for your silence. Clearly you are aware of my actions, and disapprove. Simply cease any investigation you are currently taking part in and these pictures will not find their way to the police or your caretaker. Hopefully, we will never encounter each other again. I wish you a speedy recovery._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Nopony._

Gusty's face was absolutely red. Her teeth were bared, and her wings were spread. She stomped a hoof, and instantly she was on the ground wincing in pain.

Snake helped her up. "Are you okay?"

"NO I'M NOT OKAY!" Gusty snapped. "I WANT TO TEAR NOPONY'S HEAD OFF!"

Snake patted Gusty's back, getting her to slow her breathing. "Hey now, none of that. You're out of this. I'm not letting you get arrested because of me."

"WHAT!?" Gusty and Boomer yelled at exactly the same time.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Gusty looked like she was in an absolute panic. "You can't just kick me out of this after that! We've gotta stop Nopony! You need me!"

"She's right!" Boomer insisted. "What are we even gonna do when we catch Nopony if we don't have the muscle of the group? There's no way me or you could take them on. You need to let Gusty help you."

"But her legs aren't even working!" Snake argued. "How's she even going to do anything?"

"The doctor said her legs will be better in a couple of days with those potions," Boomer replied. "She'll probably be fine by the time we find Nopony!"

_Gah. That's a good point. _Snake sighed, then chuckled. "Alright alright, I guess I'm outvoted. But we can't talk about the plan here. Who knows when one of the butler trio will come up to check on us? What say we stow the letter for now, and meet up at the old house tomorrow?"

Gusty and Boomer nodded. Both of them looked rather glum. Snake needed a way to fix that, and fast. An idea struck her, and she stuck her hoof out. "Go team on three?" she offered with a smirk.

That got a smile out of Gusty, and an eye roll out of Boomer that Snake knew was her trying _not _to smile. But both of them put their hooves on hers. "Go team!" they cheered simultaneously.

* * *

The rest of the evening was fairly standard. They ate, chatted, and tried to put the events of the last couple of days out of their minds for just a little while. They even played truth or dare with Amber for a little while. Snake had to resist the urge to use the game to pry further into Amber's love life.

Their moods had all improved greatly when Snake was sent home with some leftovers. Her mom sure was happy to see that. It'd keep them fed for a couple more days.

During lunch the next day, Snake scouted the school, looking for the best way in and the quickest routes to the places they needed to check out.

That night, it was snowing. She'd gone through the market after school and picked up some supplies they'd need. She wore her usual outfit for the cold weather, a simple black hoodie and one of those weird fur hats with ear flaps that she'd gotten at an old thrift store. She wasn't particularly in the mood to nick any bit purses or wallets.

She made her way to the hideout at the old house, running both to keep herself warm and to make it there on time. Gusty and Boomer were already waiting for her there. "Heya, Hero. How are those legs feeling?"

Gusty, who was wearing a dark green hoodie to keep out the cold, gingerly lifted one of her front legs. "Still kinda sore. Daffodil says I'm supposed to go back for an x-ray in a few days."

"At least they're healing," Boomer, who wore a yellow sweater and black ski-cap, remarked. "So, shall we break and enter?" She nodded her head towards the window. "I sure hope we didn't sneak away only to find you'd chickened out."

"But of course, my dear Cuddles!" Snake fiddled with the lock on the window, using her favorite little spell to once again crack it open. _I really need to get a key for this padlock if I'm gonna keep putting it back on._ "After you, my fair fillies!" she said with a mock bow.

Gusty rolled her eyes and crawled inside. "Just to be clear, I still don't fully approve of this place."

"Yeah, yeah, you're the hero here, we know," she teased as Boomer and then herself followed soon after.

"Alright, what's the plan?" Gusty asked once they'd all sat down and set up the lantern. "I assume you have one, right?"

"But of course," Snake replied, smirking. "But if you're still not cool about _this _place, you might have some issues with it."

Gusty narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"You want to break into the school, don't you?" Boomer asked bluntly.

"Ding ding ding! Corrrrect!"

"Wait WHAT!?" Gusty's jaw dropped, looking like Snake had just said they were going to go graverobbing. "You can't be serious!"

"I'm dead serious," Snake replied. "I noticed something about that letter for Gusty the other night. One of those clue things Pure Luck talked about. Nopony knew Gusty by sight well enough to find her in less than a day, and knew about what happened to her. There are some crazy rumors floating around, but I doubt anypony could just take one look at you and know your address without having it on file somewhere. We suspected as much before, but this confirms it; Nopony works at the school."

"But…" Gusty floundered like a fish out of water, struggling to find a hole in Snake's logic.

"Why don't we have a look at the book, and see what it says?" Boomer suggested with a smirk. "Surely there's gotta be something in there about what to do in this situation?"

Gusty sighed in resignation, starting to regret ever showing them that book. "Fine. Let me just open it up and-HEY!"

Snake swiped the Hero Book from her before she could even get it all the way out of her bag, cracking it open. "Hmmm...yep, says so right here. '_If you have reason to believe there may be clues to find, then go forth and find them! Even if it means committing actions of questionable legality and ambiguous morality!'_ Seems pretty clear cut to me."

"It does _not _say that!" Gusty insisted, shoving her aside to look at the book. "...It says exactly that. Huh."

"Well there you go!" Boomer said smugly. "So, all we've gotta do is decide where we're gonna look for clues."

"I've got a list made already," Snake replied. "First thing's first," She pulled out three cheap wigs, three pairs of sunglasses, and three bandanas from her bag. "I got us disguises! I also brought black tape for Boomer to cover up her cutie mark."

"I think you forgot the fake mustaches," Gusty said, not exactly impressed. She put it all on anyway. "Well, it'll have to do. Anything to keep this off my record."

"That's the spirit!" Snake cheered. "Anyway, our prime targets are going to be the principal's office and the teacher's lounge. Those are the two places most likely to hold something incriminating. And if we're lucky, maybe we'll find some keys to search around the classrooms as well."

"If we're _lucky,_ we'll never have to get that far in the first place," Boomer pointed out.

"True. So, is everypony game?"

"I promised I'd help," Gusty reluctantly agreed. "Just please let's not do anything too wrong in there."

"Of course not, Hero." Snake put a reassuring leg around her shoulders. "We're looking to catch the bad guy, not become bad guys ourselves."

"And we're gonna!" Boomer rubbed her hooves together evilly. "I can't wait to see what we do to teach this scumbag a lesson."

Snake and Gusty shared a look. "Well... turn them in to the cops?" Gusty suggested.

Snake nodded agreement.

Boomer pouted. "You two have no imagination."

"And I don't want to know what goes on in _yours," _Gusty said, shuddering.

"Probably a wise move," Snake agreed. "Alright, then it's settled. Let's bag this crook and clear our names! Go team?" She stuck her hoof out into the center.

"Go team," they both replied, putting their hooves unenthusiastically to hers.

"We need to come up with a better name for us," Boomer muttered to herself as they ran off.

* * *

It was true what everypony said. School during the day is a drag. School at night is just creepy.

And it didn't help that the three of them were dressed as burglars and about to commit some _serious_ actions of 'questionable legality'. "Alright, let's make this simple," Snake said. "We should be able to get right into the principal's office from a window on the second floor."

"That was simple up until 'second floor'," said Gusty. "I'm not exactly in the best shape to carry you guys up there."

"Wasn't counting on it." She pointed to a dumpster and some crates from cafeteria food deliveries stacked up against the side wall. "We just gotta get a bit creative. Once we're in there, we can work our way down to the teacher's lounge on the first floor and hit any other fun stops along the way."

They built a pyramid of the old crates, and climbed up to the window. Snake's horn lit up, reaching inside to telekinetically pop the latch and slide the window open before climbing in herself. Once she'd helped Boomer in, Gusty flew up and inside.

The office was small and dark. After all three of them had slammed into something at least once, Gusty brought out the lantern from her saddlebags and tapped it, waking up the fireflies within and illuminating the room.

"Good thinking, Hero!" _Kinda wish I had thought of bringing one of those. _Snake took the lantern in her magic, shining it around the room.

Principal Pusher's office was an absolute mess. There were papers everywhere, and a picture of a very stressed-looking cyan mare in a graduation cap on the wall. A dirty coffee cup was sitting on her desk. "How are we even gonna find anything in here?" Gusty muttered.

"Look everywhere," Snake replied. "There's gotta be something that narrows things down."

They did their best to look around without leaving too many signs that they'd been there. With all the chaos in the office, it wasn't hard.

What _was _hard was actually finding anything in the massive mess. The walls were completely covered in paper. If there was ever some kind of board that they were once posted on, it was long buried. Her desk had multiple towers of paperwork and folders, which should not have stayed upright yet somehow did.

"So this is why we never see her," Boomer remarked. "Girls, be prepared to find a skeleton somewhere in here."

Snake chuckled. "Nah. She's fine. I saw her a couple of weeks ago."

"I think I found something!" Gusty announced, holding a piece of paper up in her wing for them to see. "I think it's from the Vice Principal. A list of things she needs to know when she gets back from vacation. I don't wanna read the rest. Might be private stuff."

"Probably a good idea," Snake replied. "And that wipes the principal off our list. If she's on vacation, she can't have been at Daffodil's or Amber's last night."

"Girls…" Boomer's voice sounded shaky, as if she'd just seen a ghost. If fur could go pale, she'd have been pink. "I think I found something else."

It was a detention note for another student. The teacher's signature was an illegible scribble, but the rest of the writing was clear enough to read. It took Snake a moment to figure out what had shaken Boomer, but then she saw it. She retrieved Nopony's letter to Amber from her tail, and put it up next to the notice. "It's the same hornwriting. Or mouthwriting. Whatever Nopony uses."

Gusty glared at the notice like she wanted it to combust. Snake thought she may have even growled a little. "So it's true. Nopony works here at the school."

"Looks like it," Boomer replied. "At least we know we're in the right place."

"C'mon," Snake said with a nod towards the door. "Let's get out of here and check the other spots."

They left the principal's office and made their way downstairs. Their hoofsteps echoed in the quiet hallways. "I hope Nopony isn't actually here," Boomer remarked. "If they are, we're doomed."

Snake tried to think of a funny quip about that. She couldn't.

Fortunately, the teacher's lounge was a lot more orderly than the office. Unfortunately, that also meant that there wasn't much to find. Snake had hoped some of the teachers might have left the keys to their classrooms there or something, so she could avoid having to pick the locks. Sadly, there was only one key left on the peg board. Gusty took the lantern and flew up to squint at the words on the label. "Security office! Maybe Pepper Spray has some keys in there too!"

Snake Eyes tilted her head, frowning. "Ol' Skunk Spray left her key behind? That doesn't seem like her."

"Does it matter?" Boomer replied. "We're not looking to figure out why she left her keys behind. We're looking to see if she's Nopony."

Something felt weird about this to Snake, but she shrugged it off. "Alright. Let's hurry. The quicker we all get back home, the less likely anypony will notice we're gone."

Snake had never actually been in the security office. Not a lot of ponies had, since Pepper was pretty protective over it. It was small, but oddly cozy. There was an office chair in front of a desk, a few papers and notes on the desk and the wall in front of it, and a locked metal locker on the wall across from the door. But again, something felt off. Snake couldn't put her hoof on it, until Gusty pointed it out. "Why are the lights still on?" Gusty asked.

That was it. It was the middle of the night. All of the lights should have been off. "She must have left in a hurry," Snake theorized. "Maybe to visit her kid in the hospital or something, like she said earlier."

"Let's make this quick," Boomer said with a shudder. "Gusty and me will look at the stuff on the desk. Snake, you get that locker open."

Snake nodded absently, still trying to figure out why something about this gave her goosebumps.

She wrapped her magic around the padlock and started trying to pick it. Whether it was because she was distracted, or because Pepper had really good taste in locks, she had a tough time of it. But nevertheless, it eventually popped open, and she opened up the locker. What she saw inside made her jaw drop. "Girls…"

Gusty and Boomer walked over, and the exact same thing happened to them.

The locker was filled with photos. Dozens of them. Of ponies in all kinds of compromising positions.

_Snap!_

The three of them whirled around, only to see Pepper Spray standing in the doorway, holding a camera in her magic. "Caught you!" she said with a triumphant smile. "I knew I heard hoofsteps upstairs!"

It was then that the puzzle pieces came together for Snake about why something felt off. Pepper hadn't left her things behind in a hurry. She was _still here! _Of course the security guard would work overnight too.

"And of course it'd be _you three _who broke in!" Pepper continued. "I knew you were no good from the moment I saw you!"

"Wait, you don't know us!" Snake attempted to argue, hoping that their disguises would persuade her.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "A: The tape is falling off of Boomer's cutie mark. I can see it. B: None of you did anything to hide the color of your tails, or your fur."

_That's… a good point. I hadn't actually considered that. _

"But now, you three are _done!" _Pepper's smug grin hurt Snake on an emotional level.

Gusty stepped forward aggressively, but Pepper pulled out a bottle of mace in her magic, holding it up threateningly. "Back off, kid."

Gusty reluctantly did. "So you're Nopony?" she snapped.

Pepper's glare went to Gusty.

"You're the one who's been leaving blackmail letters all over town!" Gusty accused, wings flaring angrily.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Pepper replied, narrowing her eyes. But her smug grin returned, she turned her nose up a bit. "There's no more sneaking around for you three. I've got you on camera n—"

While her eyes were off them, Snake lashed out with her magic. She hadn't had time to try and grab the bottle and spray it, so instead she knocked it out of Pepper's magical grip and smacked her in the face with it. "Run for it!" she yelled to Gusty and Boomer. Neither had been prepared, but they had just enough time to run around the stunned Pepper.

Snake's blow hadn't been very powerful, but it certainly wasn't a light tap either. It was enough that she actually staggered back, taking a second to realize what had happened. "Wha-? Hey!"

Snake tried to grab the camera as well, but Pepper yanked it away. _Gah. Not enough time to go for it again. Gotta run._

They ran back upstairs. Gusty actually flew, and Pepper was still right on their tails. But they had the advantage of actually knowing where they were headed. That turned out to be just enough for them to get out the office window and clamber down their makeshift box pyramid, before tearing it down.

They took off down the street and climbed over the wall. They ran all the way down the street and cut through the market, before finally looking back and seeing no Pepper. "I think we lost her," Snake panted.

"FEATHERS!" Gusty hissed under her breath. "What are we gonna do now?"

"We can't keep investigating," Boomer pointed out. "She'll let out that photo the second she sees us doing anything."

Those were good points. Snake slumped against a market stall, defeated. "Nothing. You two go home. I'll have to scrounge up my savings and just pay the piper." Things would be pretty hard for a while. Nopony's pay would take up all her savings and her emergency fund. She'd be flat broke. Maybe she could just outright steal food for a while?

"No."

She looked up. Gusty looked even angrier than before, but somehow not as unstable as usual. "We're not going to just give up. We know who she is now. We just have to get her busted before she gets us busted."

"If we do that, we'll have to do it tomorrow morning," Boomer suggested. "Back to the old house to plan?"

Snake didn't think anything could give her hope in that moment, but Gusty's nod somehow did. "Go team," she whispered under her breath as she followed the two of them back to the hideout.


	5. Chapter 5: Nopony's Home

**Chapter 5: Nopony's Home**

"Alright everypony," Gusty began. "Let's go over the plan one more time."

Since they couldn't very well go to their haunted house hideout before school, they'd gathered around a table in the cafeteria. It was so naturally loud in here that nopony (including Nopony) could overhear them. Thankfully, Pepper didn't seem to be around yet, and nopony was eager to sit next to her recent targets, just in case her wrath spread to them when she did show up. Personally, Boomer thought they were cowards, even if it was convenient for the three of them.

"I pull the fire alarm." Boomer had a few more plans than just that. If she just pulled the alarm, it would be too obvious they were planning something. There needed to be a _reason _for her to pull the alarm. She had a plan of her own for that.

"I hide in the janitor's closet until Gusty signals Pepper is outside," Snake continued. "Then I sneak in and swipe the photos and any letters I can find."

_She's so brave to take the most dangerous job… _Boomer swooned inwardly.

"Then you signal me, and I tell Mr. Wonderbread I saw somepony inside through a window," Gusty finished. "We bring him in, and show him the proof. Simple as can be. Boomer, got the radios?"

Boomer pulled out some old walkie-talkies that she had borrowed on the grounds of a 'school project.' "Mom says the blue one doesn't work super well," Boomer informed. "Who wants it?"

"My job is the least dangerous," Gusty replied. "So I can take the worst radio."

Boomer passed Gusty the blue walkie talkie, leaving the yellow one for herself, and the green one for Snake.

There was a silence as all of them realized the kind of trouble they'd be in if things went wrong. "If you get caught, don't squeal on the others," Snake decided. "Word of honor."

Gusty nodded. "We aren't doing anything wrong. We have to stop Nopony from hurting anypony else."

Snake shot her a tired grin. "That's the spirit, Hero."

Boomer had a brief moment of panic as she pictured Snake suddenly crushing on Gusty. "Alright! So, Snake, you'd better head off to your hiding spot, and Gusty and I need to get to class."

Snake nodded. "Yup. You're right. I've got the perfect one in mind." She stood up from the table. "Good luck, ladies!" she said as she trotted out of the cafeteria.

Gusty took a deep breath. "Feathers, I'm nervous. I really hope this all works."

Boomer gave her a hug, but rolled her eyes inwardly. "Relax. You're not gonna be the one in trouble if all this goes south."

"That's what worries me," Gusty replied just before she left.

* * *

Boomer didn't fidget or tremble as she set to work with the various materials in her AP Chemistry class. She was _so _much happier when she got to do this. When she didn't have to put up the cheerful, innocent wall, and could just act like the machine she was. She could have just "accidentally" bumped her backpack a little too hard. There was probably enough residue from past experiments in there to put on another little fireworks show.

But this was for Snake. She wanted to add a little personal touch. She'd brought a few things from home to spice up today's classwork.

"Whatcha got there, Boomer?" asked a middle-aged mare with a dark blue coat and a mane that looked way too much like a beehive for anypony with any kind of knowledge of lab safety to be remotely comfortable with.

Boomer had never actually bothered to learn the name of this teacher. In Boomer's opinion, she was ditzy, overly cheerful, incompetent, and basically just there as a way for the school to look like they had somepony keeping an eye on children playing with dangerous chemicals. Even worse, she never actually taught anything, only passing out the papers with the formulas for the students to mix. _Better get her away from here before I put in the last couple things. _"Just toying with the amounts in the formula you gave us. Seeing if I get any interesting results."

"Aww! I'm so happy I've inspired you to be creative!"

_Did you seriously just imply you have any inherent worth in this world? _Boomer didn't say that. She just smiled and got back to work.

At the table next to hers, a beige colt with a white mane frowned as the teacher left. "Creativity is not always a virtue. Certainly not in chemistry."

_Shut up, Omelette. Not like anypony likes you. _"It's fine. I know what I'm doing. I've never caused an explosion in class that I didn't mean to."

"Not in class you haven't, I suppose." Omelette didn't look happy, but turned away. He wouldn't tell on her without any actual proof she did it on purpose, and even the relatively small boom this was going to make would destroy any evidence.

Boomer sneakily slipped in her little secret ingredient just as he said that. Dramatic irony would make it a more believable accident. Boomer knew that this particular little mixture wouldn't cause much damage, and she'd purposefully taken a table away from anything expensive. No reason to actually hurt the school.

The mixture turned dark red, and started to fizz.

Boomer raised her hoof. "Uh… ma'am, I don't think mine is supposed to do this!" The line was delivered perfectly. They usually were.

The teacher rushed over, and her eyes widened. She must have had some kind of actual chemistry knowledge, because the next words out of her mouth were, "EVERYPONY, TAKE COVER!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of the school, Gusty was doing her best to keep her hooves from trembling in anticipation. She kind of wished Snake was balancing a pencil on the tip of her nose or something to lighten the tension. But Gusty had no doubt that, hidden in some supply closet or bathroom stall, Snake was inwardly shaking as well.

Mr. Wonderbread strolled in. "Good morning, class!"

"Good morning, Mr. Wonderbread!" the class echoed like the voices of the tortured dead.

"I've got something special for you all today…" Wonderbread said with a smile that looked out of place on the bored stallion's face. "I got clearance from the school board to spend a few days on one of my favorite subjects." He opened a cabinet, filled to the brim with books, and began to pass them out. Gusty took hers and looked it over. "The Collected Works of Tell-Tale Heart," she read aloud. The book had a picture of a crow standing on a pony skull as a cover.

"I only have permission for today," Wonderbread explained. "Tomorrow, they expect me to get back to the curriculum, but now I finally get to teach something I'm excited abou—"

_BOOM!_

The ceiling shook briefly. A few seconds later, the fire alarm went off. Everypony was soaked as the sprinklers in the ceiling started spraying.

Wonderbread's smile froze on his face for a solid ten seconds before it fell, his soggy shoulders sinking with it. "Oh. I suppose we had better head outside then."

Gusty felt absolutely awful as she streamed out the door with the rest of the class, none of whom seemed to find this a very unusual occurrence. _I'm going to have to find some way to make it up to him. I'm not in this to hurt anypony._

As Gusty and the rest of the school filed out of the building, half the student body already treating this like an extra recess and all of the teachers trying desperately to maintain order, Gusty looked back at the school, her eyes zeroing in on Pepper's office. Once she found it, she promptly hid herself behind a crowd of students, so as not to arouse suspicion by being seen with the radio. Though at this point, she would be surprised if the teachers noticed a rampaging manticore tearing through the playground. All she had to do was wait for the signal. _Alright, Snake. Your move._

* * *

Snake heard the boom go off from her spot in the fillies' bathroom, and rolled her eyes. _Of course. Cuddles would never just pull the fire alarm._

She fidgeted impatiently while she waited for the telltale sign of the bathroom door opening. She knew Pepper would check the bathrooms to make sure they were empty, but she had a little plan to get around that.

The door opened. She could hear Pepper muttering to herself as she checked the first stall. Then she moved to check the next one; Snake's. The locked door rattled. "Hey! Who's in there?"

_Now_. While Pepper tried to break the door open, Snake silently slipped into the stall she'd already checked.

"Come on out, you little brat! Whatever bomb you're trying to drop in there isn't as big as the one that just went off!" A second later, she succeeded in busting the door down with a tremendous crack. If anypony was actually inside, they likely would have been traumatized for life. But luckily for Pepper, because student lawsuits were no laughing matter, Snake had already made it all the way out of the bathroom by the time she poked her head inside.

"Hmph. Guess some prankster just decided to leave the door locked. You think that's funny, huh?! The school pays good money for these locks!" she yelled, breaking down a second door in her anger.

_No wonder she sticks to letters to make her threats,_ Snake thought, racing as quickly as she could down the hall towards Pepper's office.

The office was just like they left it last night. _I guess it would be. Blackmailing kids won't exactly make enough to buy you a shark tank for your evil lair. _Snake approached the big metal locker containing the photos. _I can't wait to see the look on Pepper's face when she sees her photos are all gone!_

Snake's radio buzzed. "I... Pepper... outside!" Gusty said, static overcoming her voice.

"She says she sees Pepper outside," Boomer corrected.

"Awesome!" Snake replied, horn already glowing blue to fiddle with the tumblers on Pepper's locker's padlock. "I'm in the office now!"

"Great. Let Gusty know as soon as you find something," Boomer said. "I'm gonna go keep an eye on Pepper in case she gets suspicious."

As Snake's radio clicked off again, the unicorn set to work, trying to move as fast as she could to crack open the locker again. Thankfully, Pepper hadn't had the time to install a better padlock or this might have been a lot harder. Motivated by determination and adrenaline, Snake got through the lock faster this time, tossing it haphazardly to the side as she pried open the locker.

The plan had gone so smoothly so far that she was almost surprised to find the compromising photos exactly where they'd left them. Evidently, Pepper hadn't had the time to move them either. _Criminal mastermind, my left flank. _

She was about to radio Gusty when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. One of the photos that they hadn't noticed before. Something seemed off about it. Curious, Snake brushed a few others aside to get a better look.

It was unmistakably a picture of Nopony, perched in the branches of a tree and clearly spying on another student with a camera. _Sheesh, Pepper really went all out with these. She even took a picture of...herself..._

It took her a second to realize what was wrong with that statement.

Snake's eyes widened in panic. She nearly fumbled the radio in her haste to call Gusty. "Gusty, listen! Pepper is not Nopony! We can't continue the plan! Abort now!"

* * *

Outside, Gusty heard a slightly different message. "Gusty, listen! Pepper is...Nopony! We can...continue...plan...now!"

She nodded. "Thanks for the confirmation. Giving the signal." She turned the radio off and looked to see where Boomer had gone.

She winced when she saw her, being scolded by a furious Pepper who had apparently confiscated her radio. _Well, I suppose I couldn't ask for a better diversion._

Now it was time to act out her part of the plan. Gusty trotted up to Mr. Wonderbread, who was seated on a bench and forlornly staring into the distance. "Mr. Wonderbread, sir! I think I saw somepony still inside, through the window!"

He shook his head, as if broken out of a trance. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Gusty's ears pinned, slightly concerned. "I-I said I saw somepony through the window, still inside. I think they were going into Pepper Spray's office!"

Wonderbread's head whipped back to the school, then over at Pepper. "Shoot! It looks like Miss Spray is busy. I'll go in and go look."

"I'll go with you, sir!" Gusty offered. "Just in case you need to send me back out to get somepony for something."

He seemed to be about to deny it, then shrugged. "Alright. Thank you, Gusty. The sprinklers likely put the fire out by now, so it should be okay to go in and check."

What he failed to mention was that the sprinklers themselves had not yet stopped. "Sorry," he muttered as both of them got soaked on the way. "I'll grab us some towels when we leave."

But when they entered the office, all thoughts of drying off abruptly vanished. As soon as Gusty saw the shocked look on Snake's face, she knew they had screwed up big time. The proof they were looking for was not to be found. "W-What are you doing here?!"

Gusty looked nervously up at Mr. Wonderbread, who didn't even seem to notice Snake at first. His eyes were squarely on the large pile of photos spilling out of the nearby locker. "What is the meaning of all this? What are those photos? Why… Why are you going through Pepper's office?!" Apparently, he _did_ notice Snake.

And even worse, Snake couldn't safely answer any of his questions. "Uh…"

"'Uh' is not good enough, missy!" Wonderbread snapped, suddenly going full teacher mode. "Obviously, Miss Spray has some things to hide, but that doesn't give you any right to break into the school and dig through her office!"

"Well, technically, I didn't break in. I was already inside to begin with, so…" Snake trailed off, seeing that her logical approach wasn't working.

Wonderbread left for a moment and returned with a detention slip. Unfortunately for them, there didn't seem to be any sprinklers in this office. _Great, Pepper. In addition to sneaking photos of random ponies, your office is a fire hazard._

After setting it down on Pepper's desk, Wonderbread fished a pen out of his shirt pocket and started to fill it out. Gusty was standing just close enough to see what he wrote. But it wasn't the content of the slip that sent a chill up Gusty's spine. It was his mouthwriting. She wasn't sure at first, but the more he wrote, the more certain she was.

Gusty stepped back towards Snake and whispered into her ear. Snake had to stifle a gasp, and instead used that breath to whisper the same message into her radio. Gusty winced, having not gotten the chance to tell her that Boomer wasn't on the other end of it.

Not noticing any of this, Wonderbread finished with the detention slip and turned to face them. "Alright, given the extenuating circumstances, I'm willing to let you off with detention, but… why are you looking at me like that?"

Both Gusty and Snake were glaring daggers at him. "Detention, huh? How generous of you," Snake said sarcastically.

"But I guess you can afford to be generous with all the bits you've swindled," Gusty added. "And we're not letting _you_ off that easily, _Nopony."_

Wonderbread suddenly paled, taking a nervous step back. "N-Nopony? What are you talking about? I'm somepony just like anypony else!"

"Drop the act," Gusty growled, she and Snake taking a step towards him in return. "I saw your mouthwriting on that slip. It's a perfect match for Nopony's."

"I should know," Snake said. "Considering one of those letters almost ruined my life."

"Okay, I think this has all been a terrible misunderstanding," Wonderbread replied, trying to keep his cool. And failing. "So before we do anything rash, let's just forget about this whole thing. Who needs detention? Not you!" Forcing a smile, he promptly tore up the detention slip. "See? No worries."

"He's destroying evidence!" Gusty yelled. "Get him!"

"What? No! I'm just trying to… I mean, don't change the subject… I mean, you can't just hurl accusations at a school official like… Oh, horseapples."

He turned and took off down the hall.

Gusty almost immediately felt her blood start to boil as she gave chase out of the office, and Wonderbread almost immediately slipped and fell on his face as he tried to run on the wet floor. Gusty used the opportunity to cut him off from the front door.

Snake walked up from behind him, stopping him from going around the other way. "Huh. So _that's_ why they tell us not to run in the halls," she said with a smirk.

"I knew school rules were going to bite me one day…" Wonderbread stood shakily to his hooves, looking back and forth between his two pursuers. He opened his mouth again, as if about to say something more, then bolted down another hallway instead.

"He's heading for the stairs!" Gusty realized. She flew after him, only to quickly brake as a locker nearly fell on top of her.

"I'll pay for the damages later!" Wonderbread yelled, toppling several more into their path as he tried to flee.

"Not with _my_ bits, you won't!" Snake shouted back. She deftly lept around the fallen lockers while Gusty swerved to avoid them.

Wonderbread dashed up the stairs, beating them through the door just fast enough to slam it in their faces. Gusty tried to open it, but heard the jingle of keys from the other side as he locked the door behind him. Gusty pounded the door with her hooves, trying in vain to break it down. At this point, her breathing was starting to quicken, and her heart was pounding out of her chest.

"He'll be going for the fire escape!" Snake informed Gusty. "Can you fly us through a window? We can still cut him off."

Gusty wordlessly scooped up Snake and went for a window, going through one that couldn't be seen from the front door through sheer happenstance rather than any kind of choice. She had tunnel vision. Nopony was going down.

She flew up to the second floor, and was lucky enough to find an open window, which was conveniently facing the back of the fleeing Wonderbread.

Seeing that coward run made something familiar wake up in her. It had been a while since she'd felt this, and she didn't have the power to stop what was coming.

Gusty's vision turned red, and then she blacked out.

* * *

Snake realized they were just hovering there in front of the open window, and looked at Gusty with no small amount of concern. "Uh, Hero, we gonna go after him, or what?"

Gusty slightly adjusted her stance, and the next thing Snake knew she was flying through the air at high speed. It took her a split second after she slammed into her terrified teacher to realize that it was not, in fact, with the help of a pegasus. _Did... Did she just throw me at Wonderbread!?_

She had indeed, and Wonderbread looked just as surprised as she was. "Miss Cream? But you're not a pegasus!"

"Never call me that again."

There was a loud crash as Gusty flew in behind them. Despite the perfectly reasonable gap left by the window, her entrance had taken a good chunk of the wall with it. Gusty looked like a pony possessed, glaring at Wonderbread with a primal fury.

The teacher let out a yelp and ran for his life. This time, Snake couldn't blame him. In fact, she found herself running alongside him as the enraged Gusty tore after them both. "What's gotten into her?!" Wonderbread yelled.

"I don't know! This is new to me too!"

It was then that Snake remembered something. "Oh buck. She was here because she broke all four of some poor schmuck's legs!"

"And that translates to her smashing through a stone wall _how?"_ Wonderbread countered as they ran.

"She's got some kinda crazy super strength when she gets mad! She must have lost it when she saw you!"

Gusty proved her point by throwing a pile of three metal lockers at them at once. She missed, but the lockers slammed into the fire escape door, embedding in the wall and blocking it off.

"Maybe we can get up to the…" Snake turned to realize that Wonderbread had already run off without her. "...roof."

_So much for protecting the students first._ Snake ran after him, which unfortunately put her directly in between Gusty and her target. "Hero, come on! Snap out of it!" she yelled, having to dodge another locker as it was thrown at Wonderbread, and her by extension.

The teacher was fortunate to have the good reflexes he did, considering he managed to survive the last time she had done this, and dove to the side as it sailed past him. He scrambled back to his hooves, allowing Snake the time to catch up to him. Tempted as she was to throw him right in Gusty's path and see what happened, even she didn't want him to get all of his legs broken, or worse. Nopony deserved that. Or rather, he didn't.

There was a sound of breaking glass behind them, and Snake looked back to see that Gusty had apparently grown tired of lockers and moved on to ripping out the ceiling lights to hurl at them. They exploded into the ground in a shower of sparks, which combined with the sprinklers, really made this whole thing a lot more epic than it had any right to be.

They raced up the stairs. There was no time for Wonderbread to lock the door, because Gusty smashed it open seconds later. Then she smashed apart the stairs behind them too. _Even if we win, we are gonna be in so much trouble._

They made it to the roof, which the garden club had littered with planters. Snake tried to close the door behind them, but the second she did, it swung open hard, hitting her right in the nose and sending her stumbling back.

Dazed, she was only able to watch as Gusty ignored her completely and started advancing menacingly towards Wonderbread. The teacher backed away until he found himself suddenly at the edge, a three-story drop and most of the school body waiting below. He looked panicked for a moment, but managed to stand his ground. "N-Now hold on there, Miss Breeze," he said quickly. "I don't think you really want to do this."

She kept coming.

"Uh, I'm kinda thinking she does!" Snake warned.

"Think of the consequences!" he continued. "If you attack me now, I'll fall over the edge. I may survive, but you will be guilty of attempted murder at least!" Despite his situation, he actually managed to smirk. "And don't forget, I still have the photos of you as well. Hurt me, and it will look like nothing more than an attempt to silence the truth! The truth that you are a dangerous delinquent who doesn't deserve to be walking the streets let alone attending school! Is that what you want?!"

Gusty slowed, grunting and shaking her head as if trying to shake off whatever force had come over her. Wonderbread's words must have had some kind of effect.

And that gave Snake the encouragement to try the same. Barely thinking of the consequences herself, she leapt onto Gusty's back, attempting to pull her away as the pegasus thrashed in response. "Gusty, it's me! This isn't how we should go about this! Remember what your book said? Do you think any of _those_ heroes would do something like this?! I know you can hear me!"

Gusty whipped back violently, flinging Snake off and causing the unicorn to crash headfirst into the concrete edge of one of the garden beds. She groaned, rubbing her head as a noticeable trickle of blood slid down her face.

_That_ snapped Gusty out of it. "Snake!"

Snake was pretty out of it as she saw a green blur move to help her. She heard somepony laugh, but that was about it before she lost consciousness.

* * *

Gusty immediately rushed to Snake's side. "Snake! Snake! Stay with me!"

Wonderbread hesitated at the edge of the roof. "I-is she alive?"

Gusty didn't know how to tell, but Snake was at least still breathing. "I-I think so!"

Wonderbread let out a relieved breath, then laughed. "Well, when she wakes up, tell her she still owes me those bits! I don't care if she has a concussion. I need that money, and I will still release those photos. And don't even think about trying anything like that little demolition job you did inside again. If you do, I'll tell the police EVERYTHING about you and your little friend. And they'll absolutely believe me, what with _your _reputation. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to the rest of the class."

Gusty watched, slack-jawed, as Wonderbread casually strolled towards the door. There was no boiling in her blood. Just a massive pit in her gut at the knowledge that they had just failed in the worst way possible.

Satisfied that she wasn't going to try anything, Wonderbread opened the door with a smug smile.

Then let out a girlish scream as he immediately took a shot of mace to the face.

"Not so fast!" Pepper yelled, shoving the stunned pony to the ground. "I heard everything!"

Wonderbread was swearing and crying incoherently in pain as he was pinned. Gusty never thought she would be so happy to see Pepper Spray. "Wha… but how?"

"How do you think?" Boomer asked, stepping out from behind her and waving her radio around. "Guess it's a good thing I got myself caught, huh?"

"She told me everything," Pepper added, zip-tying Wonderbread's front hooves together before she went to tend to the unconscious Snake. "I didn't think YOU were dumb enough to be that maggot I snapped a picture of in a tree, Wondy. This is gonna look SO good in divorce court. Anyway, what happened inside? No way this idiot caused all that."

Gusty chuckled nervously. "Uh… I may have gotten a little… overzealous… in my… pursuit of justice?"

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "You telling me _you _did all that?"

"Er… yes?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a sec!" Boomer interrupted. "I think we're ignoring the bigger question here." She looked at Pepper and pointed rapidly between her and Wonderbread. "You two were _married?!"_

"Emphasis on the _were_," Pepper replied. "Divorced. You okay, kid?"

Snake's eyes drifted open a little bit, then closed again. "Did anypony get the number of that carriage…?" she mumbled incoherently.

"Go get the first aid kit," Pepper called to Boomer. "There's one in my office."

As Boomer ran down to get it, Pepper started looking over Gusty. It was only then that she noticed she had a lot of wooden splinters in her front legs. "I guess those are from when you made that big hole in the stairs I had to jump over," Pepper remarked as she started to pull them out. "Now, you are gonna tell me everything that happened, why you were breaking into the school late at night, and do it all from the beginning."

Gusty may have been a pegasus, but she sang like a songbird. Who could blame her? After everything she and her friends had just been through, she wanted nothing more than to put a pin in this thing and call it a day. Boomer came back somewhere around the part where they had to flee from Pepper's office, chuckling a bit at the memory even as Gusty got increasingly nervous of the way Pepper was glaring at her.

But finally, the guardspony sighed, taking the first aid kit from Boomer and beginning to patch them up. She started with the unconscious Snake Eyes, wrapping a bandage and some gauze around her head injury. "Alright, just to be clear, I am _not_ happy with your little crusade of justice. Especially not the part about you needlessly destroying school property, and I'm _still _not clear on how you did that, by the way."

"Me neither…" Gusty looked away sheepishly.

"However, I do understand why you felt that stopping my ex yourselves was the best option under the circumstances. Just know that there was a better way than going full vigilante in complete disregard for the law."

"_Coughhypocritecough."_

Pepper immediately turned her ire on Boomer, who looked back at her innocently. It wasn't much of a disguise, especially since she had actually _said_ "cough".

"She has a good point though," Gusty pointed out. "Why did you have all those photos in your locker?"

Pepper went from annoyed to a little uncomfortable. "Well... it's my way of doing community service. I see somepony doing something illegal, I snap a photo of them. Later, I tell them I have proof, and demand that they stop."

There was a long, awkward silence. Even Wonderbread had ceased his crying to be sullenly quiet.

"That just sounds like blackmail without asking for money," Gusty said, narrowing her eyes.

"It's better than rampant destruction of property and attempted assault," Pepper pointed out.

Gusty shrank, looking down. "Fair enough."

"Alright, so where does Wonderbread fit into this then?" Boomer asked. "You had a picture of him, so I guess you were looking for Nopony too?"

"Of course I was," she scoffed, starting to look over Gusty's injuries now. "You think I was gonna let somepony like Nopony get away with blackmailing everypony? Not that I had any idea who he was, but now that I do, this all makes sense."

Gusty slowly raised a hoof. "Uh... mind telling us how?"

Pepper hesitated, and she realized that it probably wasn't the most tactful thing to pry into somepony's failed marriage. "I mean, you don't have to, if it's too painful—"

"Ha! Good one!" she laughed, checking Gusty's wings for feather damage. "I was just thinking of how to best rake Wondy over the coals. See, he was threatened with losing custody of our son if he couldn't pay his hospital bill, so apparently he got this crazy idea to start blackmailing ponies until he could pay up. He always _was_ a bit too dramatic for me."

Gusty and Boomer looked at each other and collectively raised an eyebrow, but wisely kept their thoughts to themselves.

Pepper forcibly pulled Gusty's head back to start treating the cuts she'd gotten from wantonly tearing apart ceiling lights. "Honestly, it's a good thing you came into the picture when you did. With those photos in my office, he was probably going to try to frame me for his own crimes. I wouldn't put it past him."

"Hold on…" Boomer said, suddenly realizing something. "Your son's hospital bill? You couldn't mean... _Nutshell?"_

"Yup," Pepper replied. "You seriously telling me that, after all this time, you had no idea who his parents were?"

"...Honestly, I don't think I've ever actually talked to him before."

"We were going to in the hospital," Gusty added. "But we ended up not needing to."

"I was taking him to school when it happened," Wonderbread admitted, breaking his self-imposed muteness. By now, his eyes were red and the fur around them was wet with tears. "Can you please clean my eyes?"

"When I'm done cleaning up the twelve-year-olds you tried to blackmail," Pepper replied. "Anyway, somepony, and by that I mean Nopony, decided to let him play with that idiot superhero's ice cannon."

"Well, excuse me for wanting to let him have some fun!" Wonderbread grumbled.

"Have some fun, huh? Is that what multiple cracked ribs feel like? Or a punctured lung? Are they fun?" Pepper's tending to Gusty's wounds was getting a little aggressive, and she had to take a moment to visibly force herself to calm down.

"This is all very surreal," Gusty said slowly, "but can you please just tell us where you hid the photos you took of us?"

Despite being a teacher, Wonderbread pouted like a stubborn child. "And why should I?"

Boomer growled, about to give him a piece of her mind, when Pepper spoke up. "Oh, those? They're probably just in his desk drawer or something. He's not very good at hiding things."

His eyes widened. "N-No, of course not! I would never choose such a terrible hiding place! That would just be silly! Ha ha…"

Pepper turned blankly towards Boomer. "Boom—?"

"I got it," she said, leaving the roof once again.

Boomer returned a few minutes later with a small backpack. "It was right where you said it was. The drawer wasn't even locked."

Pepper's eyes narrowed. "Is that... Nutshell's backpack!?"

Wonderbread winced. "Well... he wasn't using it…"

Now Pepper looked like she was ready to murder somepony. "You... You IDIOT! What if there had been an inspection and somepony found this in your desk? Somepony might think Nutshell had been doing this before you started it!"

"Oh..." He looked away. "I didn't think of that."

"Of course you didn't! You never think through anything!" She opened the backpack and pulled out a small box containing the photos. She nodded in satisfaction before setting them back down. "Well, I'm taking these to the police and putting all of this behind us for good."

"It won't be behind _me,"_ Wonderbread muttered.

"I meant Nutshell and I!"

Gusty tapped Pepper on the shoulder, interrupting the oncoming squabble. "Sorry to bother you, but um… What you said about turning these photos in to the police… at least one pony has a secret that isn't illegal or even wrong, but would hurt her if the photos of her in there got out. And a lot of others could get hurt too."

Boomer ruffled through the bag. "Yikes! She's right!" She pulled out the letters and passed them to Pepper, before going back to look through the photos in the bag. "Some of these are pretty dang bad."

Pepper looked at the letters in uncertainty, but then shook her head. "Sorry, kid. We've gotta let the police deal with this. I'm not withholding evidence of crimes so a few embarrassing secrets can stay hidden. Some of those ponies are just gonna have to deal with the consequences of what they did, whether justified or not. That's life for ya."

"But you do this all the time!" Gusty argued. "All those photos you took were—"

"—sent straight to the police if what they were doing didn't stop right away," Pepper finished for her, looking irritated. She sighed and ran a hoof down her face. "Look, kid. I get you're trying to keep a member of your little club from getting in trouble. But sometimes consequences just—"

_BOOM!_

All three of them jumped backwards as the bag was consumed in a small but fiery explosion. Pepper rushed in to stomp it out, before whirling on Boomer. "WHAT DID YOU DO!?" she demanded.

Boomer smiled sheepishly. "Uh… well…"

"You forgot to wash your hooves after messing with those chemicals you used in the distraction," Gusty realized. "Didn't you?"

Boomer nodded, looking embarrassed, but smirking just a little.

Pepper spent several moments looking like a volcano about to erupt. A vein was visible on the side of her head as her mouth opened and closed in a vain attempt at speech.

Then she just sighed, rubbing the side of her head with a hoof. "Alright, alright. We still have the letters. But you're telling the cops what happened to the photos."

Gusty felt a wave of relief wash over her. It was over. They'd done it. Snake and Amber were both safe, and Nopony had been caught.

The hole Gusty had made in the stairs was just small enough to go around, so they started getting Snake and Wonderbread ready to be carried down.

Wonderbread just sulked as Pepper levitated him up onto her back. He looked absolutely miserable. Gusty almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

Snake mumbled a little more as Gusty picked her up. Something about cabbages. "Is she gonna be okay?" Gusty asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine," Pepper assured. "She just took a nasty bump. Now come on. If we hurry, I'll still be able to make visiting hours at the hospital."

* * *

It was a few days later when they met back at the haunted house hideout again. It was not by choice.

"So..." Snake started. "How bad did you guys get it?"

Gusty rubbed her foreleg uncomfortably. "Well... on the one hoof, I don't think anypony is going to bring up my little 'episode' back there. She didn't exactly tell me, but I'm pretty sure Daffodil pulled a bunch of strings to keep that quiet."

"On the other hoof, she was _not_ happy about it," Boomer finished. "She chewed us out for hours. Like, literal hours. I kept count."

"Yeesh. Not sure if I'd trade what I got for that," she rubbed the bandages still around her head. "Apparently, Pepper told my mom about the stealing you told her about, Hero."

Gusty winced. "Sorry. I was just freaking out and didn't know what else to say but the truth."

Snake shrugged. "It's fine. I'm not mad. I didn't get yelled at or anything. She just gave me this… disappointed look." She shuddered. "Then she sat me down on the couch, and made me talk about why I felt like I had to do that. I totally didn't cry while telling her. She hugged me and made it pretty clear that she'll tan my backside if I'm not done with pickpocketing. So yeah. Guess I'll have to find a real job."

"You're not the only one," Boomer replied with a roll of her eyes. "It seems that Mom couldn't sweep _everything_ we did under the rug. Instead of pressing charges, the school wants Gusty and me to pay for the damage she caused in her psycho rage."

"Hey!" Gusty said indignantly. "You were the one who blew up the lab! It wasn't _all _me!"

"Bah. Details."

"The point is, we're going to have to find some way to make up a lot of cash. There's not a huge rush on it or anything, but still."

Snake sighed. "And right when I'm banned from stealing…"

"I'm guessing we can't just use Wonderbread's distrust fund?" Boomer joked.

"Boomer, that's terrible," said Gusty, unable to stop a slight snort. "But also, no we can't. I just heard from Pepper that all of Wonderbread's victims have now come forward. He's been arrested and his ill-gotten bits are back where they belong. Which is not with us."

"Dang. Well, anypony got another idea then?"

Gusty wasn't sure exactly what triggered the idea in her head, but it did seem like a good one. "Well... a lot of heroes in the book mention looking for 'fame and fortune,'"

Boomer raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"You suggesting we go on some kind of grand quest for treasure or something?" Snake asked curiously, looking excited at the concept.

"Well... no," Gusty admitted. "At least, not yet. But surely there have to be ponies around town who could use a hoof, and be willing to help out a few brave heroes who help them out."

Boomer contemplated this. "So what you're saying is... we do the same thing we just did, help ponies out… except now we start charging for it?"

"Um… when you put it that way, it sounds kinda—"

"I like it!" She grinned. "When can we start?"

Gusty knew a lost cause when she saw one. "First, we'd have to advertise our services somehow. Put some flyers around town, spread the word, that sort of thing."

"We'd also need a name," Snake pointed out. "Can't just call ourselves 'Three Fillies Doing Good Deeds for Money'. That'll never catch on."

There were a few beats of silence as the three of them considered it.

"How about the Boomer Bunch?" Boomer suggested. "Or the Boomer Battalion?"

"Those names are cornier than a local farm," Snake said with a shake of her head. "Plus, it was Gusty's idea. The Gusty Gang?"

"Ick," Gusty grimaced at that one. "I'd sooner call it the Snake Squad. Let's pick something that isn't just there to fill up one of our egos."

"Oh, alright," Boomer said, only slightly disappointed. "Well... you got the idea from the Book of Heroes… so how about... we call ourselves… the Book Club?"

Snake shook her head and groaned. "You did that on purpose. But I think you're on the right track. How about the Hero Club?"

"The Hero Club…" Gusty said to herself, repeating it a few times. Slowly, a smile crossed her lips. "Yeah... yeah, I like that! The Hero Club, it is!"

Boomer shrugged. "I guess that's an okay name. Short enough to put on a poster."

Snake smirked. "Aw, come on, Cuddles, you know you like it."

It was hard to see in the light of the lantern, but Gusty could have sworn she saw Boomer blush. "Well... maybe it is kind of a catchy name. So what do we do now?"

Gusty pondered that for a moment. "We probably ought to go tell Daffodil and Snake's mom about what we're gonna do. Then maybe we can plan how we're gonna do this."

Boomer wasn't entirely sold on that part. "You sure you want to tell Mom that we're going to be getting in even _more_ trouble?"

"We're not going to be getting into trouble!" Gusty insisted. "This is just fundraising for us, that's all. It's not like we're going to be getting involved in anything dangerous like Nopony again. Just finding lost cats and doing chores for old folks and stuff."

Boomer now wasn't entirely sold on this whole idea. "That sounds like community service."

"Probably because it _is _community service," Snake replied. "Except we get bits out of it. Come on, it won't be _that_ boring. Those lost cats can really put up a fight sometimes."

"Unless one of them is a lion, I'm not impressed."

Gusty couldn't resist. She put her hoof out. "Everypony gather 'round and put your hooves in the middle. My coach used to make the team do this when I played hoofball."

They did so, Snake eagerly and Boomer reluctantly. "Anypony have an idea for a cheer?" Snake asked. "Or just 'go team?'"

Gusty stopped her. "Wait, wait, I think I got one."

"Something's coming to me too actually," Snake said.

"Oh, me too!" Boomer added.

"On three then?" Gusty asked. "One… two… three!"

"Heroes always prosper!"

"For bits and glory!"

"Kick 'em in the nuts!"

They all stopped and stared at each other. "Um... 'go team' then?" Gusty said meekly.

"Agreed."

"Yup."

"Alrighty. One… two… three!"

"GO TEAM!"


End file.
